Crossroads
by eternalasucaga
Summary: Having lost all his memories did not stop him to create new and happy ones. He finds love and is completely satisfied with his new life. In his former life though, he was already engaged to someone else and a duty that he needed to fulfill back home.
1. Blood in the Water

A/N: Yay a new fic!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny.

Chapter 1: Blood in the Water

-o0o-

Today was the day that I would finally ask for her hand in marriage.

Would she say yes? There is a large possibility of her saying 'yes'. After all, we've been exclusively dating each other for years now. As some people say, we're already at the right age to enter into this kind of commitment. She also never fails to tell me everyday that she loved me. If she didn't have the chance to tell me personally, there would be texts, calls and emails to make up for it. Scrap what I said earlier, there's a zero percent chance that she might say 'no'.

Like a typical girl, she likes watching romance movies. So I figured that my wedding proposal should at least be something of the sort. Better yet, mine should be more romantic than those. I wouldn't want to disappoint her by giving her something that she always sees in those movies.

Now the question was, how should I even propose to her? It was difficult planning my wedding proposal. I had to list down a lot of ideas of a romantic wedding proposal. Should I take her on a trip to Paris and propose in the city of love? What about a candlelight dinner at her favorite restaurant? Or what about surprising her by a dancing mob with me in it? I really had no idea what to do.

I needed to consult someone on this. If there was anyone who was good at making moves with the ladies, Dearka was my man. I called him up and consulted with him. I needed to know if I was on the right track. He said that my ideas were good, but I had to take it on a whole new level. Since my family owned a yacht, he suggested that I should put it to good use, have the candlelight dinner and propose there. We could sail through the small islands of Victoria and savor the breathtaking view during the day and have the dinner in the evening. I could hire musicians to play her favorite song with the violin as well.

My family was up to it. They were in fact, very supportive of what I was about to do. My mother was so enthusiastic and was doing everything that she could to make sure that everything would go smoothly. I could tell that she was really excited for me because she couldn't stop hugging me and kept telling me how happy she was. She even whispered that she also was volunteering to become our wedding planner and I should leave all the preparations to her. I bet that what made her most thrilled was the fact that she would have grandchildren in the near future.

Surprisingly, even my father was helping us out with the plans. He told our butlers to get the yacht ready because I would be using it over the weekend and called some of the musicians he knew to play for us during the trip. He was also suggesting what kind of food I should prepare for the dinner. Frankly, I never expected him to do that. He was usually not interested in those kinds of things, but it seems like he really wants me to settle down already. In truth, he's the one who pushed me to propose.

It was that one afternoon when he surprised me…

_There were two knocks on my glass door._

"_Athrun." I looked up and saw that it was my father who now entered my office and closed the door that I usually leave open. "Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you."_

"_Father." I stopped typing my response to the email of the officer-in-charge of our office in Victoria and I closed my laptop shut. It would have to be dealt with later. My father never comes to my office for a chat even though we work in the same company. This must be something really important. "Of course."_

_He sat down at one of the couches in my office and was silent for a moment. I wondered what it was but I didn't dare rush it out of his mouth. After a few seconds, he began to speak. "Athrun, I think it's about time that you ask your girlfriend to marry you."_

_I was taken aback by what he said and stood up from my chair. "Father…" But I did not really plan on proposing any time soon as I thought that it was still too early for that. I'm just twenty-six, I'm busy with working for the company that I would eventually take over once my father retires._

"_You heard me." He was the type of man that was always straight to his point. "I want you to get married." He stood up and went to where my desk was. "Your marriage will symbolize the eventual merging of both her family's company and ours. With the two most powerful pharmaceutical companies in the industry combined, we would be unbeatable by the other competitors."_

_So he wanted me to marry her because of power. The two companies were actually very competitive with each other. One tried to have higher profits than the other, employing various cost-cutting measures, research and development efforts, marketing plans, and selling strategies. It was also difficult to see who was really the number one in the industry because sometimes it was our company; other times it was her parent's company. Recently though, we always seemed to tail behind their company. This might be the reason why my father is becoming threatened with their company's presence in the market._

_It delighted my father when he found out that I was dating her instead of being infuriated with me. He told me that I chose the right girl. If he could not completely beat his rival, the next best thing to do was to make him an ally._

_But of course, her parents still weren't warming up to the idea of the two companies working together. Although they did not resent my relationship with her, they weren't convinced that they should be having a merger with our companies unless they are certain that I would be bound with her through marriage._

"_But…" I knew his reasons behind it, yet I could not bring myself to say it out loud. _

"_But what?" My father was getting impatient because I was not giving him a proper response. "You two have been a couple for a few years now, am I right?"_

"_Well, yes." I looked down, avoiding his intent gaze. I knew where he was headed._

"_Then I see no reason for you to hesitate. I'm sure your girlfriend is already dying to hear a proposal from you." He told me, he was now on his way out of my office. This conversation was done, I was sure of it. He dislikes it when people try to reason out with him, especially when he's convinced himself that he's right and no one else is._

_He stopped walking midway and looked at me. "It's for the good of this company and for yours as well. Do you understand?" With that, he was already out of my sight. There was no point in arguing. My father, when he already made up his mind, cannot be talked out of it. Rather, he forces others to see things the way that he perceives them to be._

A few days after that, I decided that I would propose to her. It wasn't solely because of that conversation, but also because we have been together since our college days. It was natural that I should already ask for her hand in marriage. A lot of our friends have been tying the knot lately. There was one wedding that we attended, and the groom asked me as to when I plan to get married. That question was enough to make me feel pressured. It didn't help when it was her that caught the bride's bouquet.

Besides it wasn't as if I was just starting to get to know her. We've been dating since our college days. I didn't really ask her out just because she was our competitor's daughter. In fact, back in college, I just found her really cute. During the first year in the university, I saw her during the freshmen-welcoming event of the upperclassmen. She caught my eye ever since and I wanted to get to know her better.

I remember feeling euphoric back in college when I found out that she liked me as well. It looked like my moves on her working. With my friends' help, I was able to find out what her classes were and enlist in the same ones when the next semester arrived. It was no problem for me since we were in the same course. Determined to get her notice me, I even swallowed all the fear that I had and sat down beside her.

It was during the second week of classes that I made a joke and she laughed heartily. She invited me to have lunch with her, which I immediately agreed to seeing that it was my chance to get closer to her. We ate lunch together often. Then it progressed to us me taking her home after school. We also had those times that we hung out after classes. My feelings for her intensified gradually. From a random crush, I think I was starting to fall in love with her. Sensing the vibe that she was actually reciprocating to my feelings for her, I formally asked her out, and of course, she said yes.

It was during our fourth date when I found out that she was in fact, the daughter of our tight competitor. But that didn't stop me from pursuing her further. We might have to face some arguments and objections from both of our parents, although I knew that we would get through them.

I cannot deny that she really made me happy during the years that we've been together. We went on a lot of dates that had me smiling even when we already parted until the moment that I slept. I always looked forward to spending time with her. It was crazy, how she was always on my mind. This might seem too superficial, but even if we don't do anything unique or different during our dates and just spend time talking to each other and if I was able to hold her hand, I was fine with that.

It was also fun thinking of ways to surprise her during our monthsaries, anniversaries and birthdays. She was the same; she never failed to make me feel so special, that I was the only one that she loved. She was the girlfriend that any guy would want to be with.

Lucky. That was the word that I described myself when I taught about her being with me. It was true that there were other guys that deserved to be with her more, but she chose me, not them. I may not be the perfect boyfriend, but she still chose to stay by my side. For that reason, I am truly lucky. I was lucky to be in love with her and lucky that she's also is in love with me.

Lucky…

If so, then why?

Why am I having second thoughts now?

Why am I suddenly so unsure about what I was about to do?

Why the hesitation?

Why?

"Hey baby!" I felt her lips on my cheek. It startled me a bit that she suddenly did that. But it helped me realize that we were still in the yacht and were having a date.

"Yes Meyrin?" I looked to see her examining my face. It must have been obvious that I was spacing out.

"What's wrong baby?" Her face had a worried expression, and I felt bad for making her feel that way. "Are you feeling seasick?"

"No, not at all." I shook my head. I was used to the waves because we always rode the yacht during the summer season. "It's just…"

She pouted. It seemed like she was now annoyed. Maybe she was telling me some things that I failed to respond to. Of course I couldn't tell her what I was thinking of. One, it would ruin the surprise of the proposal. It would make me guilty if I put all of the efforts of everyone who helped me go to waste. Second, I couldn't really tell her that I was also having a debate with myself and that I was somehow hesitating.

I massaged my elbow and thought of something else to tell her. "I'm sorry baby. I was thinking about work. I think I forgot to reply to the email that the operations manager sent me. It was even marked as urgent." That was a horrible lie. Work did not even passed through my thoughts. Now I felt bad that I had to lie to her. Now that I think about it, did I really get to send the email?

She giggled and the next thing I knew, she was already sitting on my lap. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me, which I reciprocated. The feeling of guilt did not disappear even while we kissed. But I should just stop thinking about it. Why was I even thinking about those thoughts? I love her, she loved me and I'm asking her to marry me, which is normal.

"Baby, stop thinking about work." She told me as she wrapped her arms around me. "We're here for our date so you can forget about all those stuff."

I pulled her closer to me and apologized. "Sorry about that. I won't think about work any longer." I should also put it out of my mind. Maybe it was just those kinds of feelings that people get when they're about to do something as big as this. Second thoughts had to be normal. Nicol, my friend, when he was about to get married to his long time girlfriend, also talked to me about how he was suddenly so unsure of what he was going to do. Eventually though, he pushed through with the marriage. Although now I think that they're not doing so well with their relationship and were now planning to get divorced.

Our case was different. I'm sure it was.

She giggled once more. "That's good! I'd feel really neglected if what's occupying your mind is your work and not me." She stayed put on my lap and was now talking to me about what happened to her during the days that we were unable to see each other. To make up for not paying attention to her a while ago, I listened attentively to everything that she said. I made an effort to give long responses to what she said instead of one-word answers that would enrage her yet again. I replied to things she told me about her dog finally learning how to sit and roll over, her sister's new boyfriend, and even superficial things like her dilemma on whether she should buy a new Hermes bag, a Chanel one, or both of them. There was a part of me that wanted to laugh at myself for engaging in that kind of conversation.

The sun was beginning to set, and she told me that she was getting hungry. I smiled at her and told her to get dressed for dinner, as what she had on was a skimpy two-piece bikini. At least after she puts on more fabric, I could now stop glaring at the men that were abroad the ship for gaping at her. If they weren't here to help me with my proposal, I would have beaten them up.

The dinner went on without a hitch. It was a good thing that the waiters, kitchen crew and the musicians were following the plan. The music while we were eating was lovely to listen to. I couldn't believe that Meyrin's favorite song, which was something that I wasn't really fond of because of the upbeat and annoying tune, became so mellow and smooth. The food was divine. My father has good taste. The appetizers really complimented the main course, as well as the dessert. Meyrin also enjoyed the food and the day so far, which was a big relief for me.

We talked some more during dinnertime. Meyrin appeared to be done talking about what happened during the times that we didn't spend time with each other and started to ask me about what I was doing. I had to admit, I felt uneasy that she kept asking me one thing after the other. She was asking me about how my mom was doing, what I've been busy with in the company, what time I always got home, what time I slept because according to her I wasn't returning some of her calls and texts. I gave her answers to her questions that seemed to satisfy her enough not to become suspicious or anything of the sort.

Finally it was time to ask the big question. I felt another wave of hesitation. Why won't this feeling go away? I didn't need it right now. My pocket, the one that contained the wedding ring, felt so distant from me. My hand didn't want to reach for it.

What was wrong with me?

Sure she can be shallow sometimes… Okay fine, I admit, most of the time. But I'm sure that she'll outgrow this kind of attitude when we finally get married and have kids. She really can't continue to act like she's still in college after all.

Sure she can be conceited at times, but I had to admit that she really has something to brag about. It just tends to go overboard and appear annoying and bitchy to some people.

She can be impatient, but if it's for the people that she cares about, she really tries to stretch her patience to the limits. Most of the time though, she loses it.

I wanted to slap myself. Now I was thinking about all her flaws and end up countering all that I've been saying. Yes, she has these kinds of imperfections, but it wasn't the reason why I fell in love with her. It doesn't encapsulate what she truly is completely. I fell in love with her because I found her amazing and good-hearted despite all that. No human is perfect and I accepted that fact. I also told myself that I would be patient with her flaws because I love her and promised myself that I would put up with it as long as I can.

"Meyrin, come here." I called her attention as I stood up and went to her side. Slowly, but not surely, I motioned her to stand up, which she did willingly. I felt myself swallow hard; I must have been trying to gulp down all the uncertainty that I was feeling. But alas, it was still there, stronger than ever.

With the look on her face, I guess she kind of figured out what I was about to do. Her eyes still reflected surprise, which was typical. I knelt in front of her, and with all of the willpower and determination I had left in me, I got the box that contained the ring out of my pocket. I felt like my hand was screaming: _"You'll regret this!"_ But of course, that's just all the negative thoughts clouding my mind.

My right knee felt really heavy as the upper half of my body depended on it. It wasn't because I was overweight or anything, it must be that pessimism bringing me down. But I will overcome that. I opened the box and presented her the diamond ring that my mother chose. With the most genuine voice that I could muster, the words finally came out of my mouth. "Meyrin Hawke, will you marry me?"

"YES!" I could tell that she was overjoyed because she was a bit teary-eyed even though I didn't even prepare a very dramatic speech to say to her. "You don't know how you made me so happy Athrun!" She sprung onto me and I enclosed her with a hug. I could hear the other crew of the yacht, musicians and cooks applauding to congratulate us.

"Meyrin Zala." I heard her whisper. This was the first time that I heard that and I felt like it was kind of awkward, that it really didn't fit her. Or maybe the reason why I was feeling this way was due to the fact that my father rushed me to ask her already. In time, I would eventually ask her, but to be forced by my father for the sake of the business? Maybe this was why.

But the feeling was still there.

After half an hour of being overjoyed, Meyrin seemed pretty tired and I told her that we should call it a night. She agreed and we were supposed to go to sleep, not until one of the crew of the yacht approached me, his face drained of color. I escorted her to the quarters and was supposed to go inside with her, but one of the men tapped my shoulder. I told her to go ahead, and closed the door.

He motioned me to a place in the yacht were there were no people that could hear what we were talking about. "Sir, we have a problem." I could see beads of sweat rolling down from his brows.

"What is it?" I tried to remain calm as possible.

He leaned closer to me to whisper his concern. "The engines have been malfunctioning. We've been trying to fix it, but it's getting out of hand. We're starting to worry because it's not getting any better; rather it has started to overheat. If it becomes worse, it might just…"

His voice trailed off and I continued to look at him. Was he joking with me? If it was, then it wasn't a good joke to make, especially when we were in the sea at this time of the night.

But the look on the guy's face told me that he wasn't.

"How did this happen?!" My voice was higher and it was evident that I was starting to get angry. I was confident that the yacht was in good condition because my father even told the crew to prepare it for us. "Did you not check the condition of this yacht before we started sailing?"

"We did Sir!" He was stuttering. "We're terribly sorry for overlooking this difficult situation."

"Apologizing doesn't help." I ruffled my hair out of annoyance. I realized that it doesn't help as well.

"I suggest that we should start evacuating soon before something bad happens." He told me.

He was right. This was not the time to scold them for their mistakes. "How many lifeboats do we have?"

"3, sir. One boat can fit 5 people." I made a mental headcount. There were three musicians, two kitchen cooks, four yacht crew, me, Meyrin. It was a relief that we had more than enough boats for all of us. Finding people to help and rescue them was something that we'll think about after we got off the boat. Also dealing with the current was something that we also have to worry about.

"Tell everyone to evacuate." I told him and hurried to tell Meyrin as well. He was then shouting to everyone else in the boat. It was a bad idea, because they started to panic. I wanted to punch him for doing that but I had to go and get Meyrin. "And also, put on the distress signal."

"Yes sir." He saluted me and rushed to turn on the distress signal.

"Athrun," I saw her leave the cabin, the expression on her face was stained with worry. "What's happening?"

Grabbing her by the shoulder, I gently dragged her to where the lifeboats are. I could see the four musicians loading the first boat carrying their instruments and belongings with them, which I wanted to punch them for because they were supposed to let the women ride the boats first. I made a mental note to never hire these four cowards again. But then again this wasn't the right time to be thinking of these things; I'd have to deal with them later. Safety comes first.

"Meyrin ride this boat." I motioned her to ride the boat. "I'll go on the next one."

Her face was now stricken with horror. "What? No!" She wriggled out of my grasp and started to run back to the cabin. It was a good thing that I was able to grab a hold of her again and pull her back. What was she thinking? Wasn't she able to comprehend that we needed to get off this boat as soon as possible?

"What are you doing?!" I couldn't help but talk to her with a loud voice. "Are you insane? Get on the boat!" It was now more of a command rather than gently convincing her to do what I tell her.

"B-but…" It was obvious that she was in a state of panic, even then, she still refused to comply with what I said. "But, Athrun, my things are still in there! I have to get them!"

"Never mind those! Just leave it and get on the boat!" Really, she was unbelievable. We were in this kind of life-threatening situation and she still thinks about her cell phone and designer bag.

"No!" She shook her head and was trying to break free on my hold on her hand. She really acted like a spoiled brat at times. I knew that she really would not get on the boat unless she gets her things. I sighed and let her win.

I realized that it was dangerous to let her get it. "I'll get them for you. Just get on the boat." I've been repeating that to her a number of times now.

"Really?" She stopped resisting after I just said that.

"Yes, so hurry up!" I ended up pushing her on to the boat, where she was handed a life vest to wear. Their lifeboat descended down and I dashed to the cabin room to get her things so that she could stop her whining.

I entered the room and was shocked. She brought a lot of things with her. We were supposedly only staying overnight and she brought a really big luggage. Heck I only used those kinds when I was out of the country for a month. And I really didn't want to know what she brought with her to have such a big one.

The bigger problem was, she already unpacked most of the stuff that was inside the luggage. There were clothes everywhere, pairs of shoes, bags and jewelries all over the room. So those were what she brought with her. So that was why she didn't want to leave without bringing all of her things. Quickly, I tossed all the things inside, not even caring to fold or store them properly.

Maybe I should have organized the things a little because when I was trying to close the luggage, it couldn't. There was a heel of her shoe that wasn't inside of the luggage, there was a pair of pants falling off, and her handbags were making the luggage bulkier so I couldn't close it.

I knew she wouldn't like what I was about to do, but I was running out of time. Opening the luggage yet again, I chose random things that I just tossed aside, a pair of jeans, shoes, clothes. When everything else seemed to fit, I zipped it shut and headed out of the room. I didn't care about salvaging the things that I brought with me; those were just clothes anyway.

When I finally went outside, I realized that everyone else already rode a boat. Even the crewmen were not on the yacht anymore, which was a good thing. Everyone else was safe. The bad thing was that I was the only one left and I don't really know how to make this lifeboat go down by myself. I guess I had to try.

Loading the lifeboat wasn't a task that could be easily done alone. It was really heavy, although it was manageable. But since its capacity was five people, it also was a long one. I needed someone at the other side to carry it to attach it to the hook on the other side. Unfortunately for me, there was no one else left to help me. Realizing that there was little time left, I just threw the lifeboat down to the sea. It would have taken me forever if I tried to attach it to the hooks. It was a good thing that the boat was facing upwards when it landed in the water.

"Athrun!" I heard Meyrin's distant voice. "Hurry up!" I looked at her and felt like they were already half a kilometer away from the ship.

"Did you manage to get it?" She shouted. I figured that it was her things. I waved and pointed to the luggage in my hands.

I hurriedly put the life vest on. I got a hold of Meyrin's big luggage and tossed it into the ocean as well. She would really get mad if she knew that I left some of her things behind and got some of her things that I salvaged, wet, but it didn't matter right now. Taking a deep breath, I also jumped to the ocean.

The current wasn't so strong, but I had a difficulty getting a hold on myself. While trying to breath, there would be salt water getting on my face. For a few seconds, I couldn't open my eyes because it was sore from all the salt water that got on my eyes. A hard thing bumped me. It was Meyrin's luggage. I held on to it and propelled myself towards the boat that was drifting away. I pushed myself faster, my left hand trying to swim towards the boat, while my other hand was on the luggage.

The lifeboat seemed so far away. Especially when the current was preventing me from reaching it. The seawater kept splashing on my face but I had to open my eyes to keep track of where the boat was. My life vest was also a nuisance because it makes it harder to reach the boat. Meyrin's luggage too was making it harder.

"Just a little more." I kept telling myself as I swam towards the boat.

Reaching the lifeboat, I tossed the luggage first and tried to get on. As expected, it was also a challenge without anyone to help me get on. My weight prevented me from successfully getting on the boat. When I tried to get on, the boat would incline to the side where I was on and would flip.

Damn it. This was really hard. As I tried to climb on, I kept thinking to myself: "Was this a sign that I was proposing a wrong thing to do?"

After a few attempts of trying to get on the boat, I heard a loud explosion behind me. I didn't have time to look at what it was because I felt something hit my head.

-o0o-

He was finally regaining consciousness. His eyes started to flutter open, but he immediately closed it because the bright light penetrated the room and was overwhelming his eyes.

"You're finally awake!" An unfamiliar voice was talking to him, he presumed. "Thank goodness!" He heard her footsteps trailing off, and heard the door closing a few seconds after.

Opening his eyes again, he was looking at the white ceiling. He shifted his head to the left and saw a wall that was painted light green. A window was also there and its blue and white striped curtains were moving slightly as the wind blew. When he looked to the right, there was a lamp on the wooden table, cabinet, chair and a door. It was an ordinary room.

He slowly sat up and examined the room one more time. He had no idea why he was here and how he got here in the first place.

The door opened again and a blonde girl entered the room, holding a glass of water. He also had no clue as to who this girl was. She was probably the one that was talking a while ago. She walked towards him while he just sat there, unable to comprehend anything at the moment.

She seemed delighted as she handed him the glass of water. "Here, drink this." He took it without saying a word and drank from it. It felt good. His mouth and throat were feeling dry and the cold water was enough to quench it.

He finished it in no time and the girl got the empty glass and placed it on the table. He observed her as she pulled the chair next to the bed and sat, facing him.

"How are you feeling?" She asked him.

"I'm fine." He answered her, while feeling more and more uneasy. Why was she asking that? Who is this girl? What even happened? He needed to ask her a lot of things that were on his mind.

"That's good! I guess you just needed time to rest." She smiled again.

"Where exactly am I?" He asked, trying not to be rude. At first he hesitated to ask her, but then again he was really clueless.

"You're in Orb." She told me in a cheerful tone. "Well, you're in my house to be more exact."

"Orb?" He repeated, although he didn't seem to know that were was a place called 'Orb'. "I'm in Orb?"

She nodded at this man that seemed to have no recollection about what happened to him. Then she realized that of course, he wouldn't be able to recall how he got to her house. "Some of the fishermen saw you floating unconscious in the ocean while they were catching fish. Then they brought you here to my house because they didn't know what to do with you."

He thought about what she just said. Why on earth was he even floating in the ocean and unconscious at that? Ocean? Why was he even at the ocean? He contemplated as to why it happened to him, but his mind was blank. He could not think of anything that would give him answers. He didn't understand why he couldn't come up with anything to help him figure out all the things that made him so confused. He closed his eyes and tried to think about it harder, but there was nothing.

"The hospital's pretty far from where I live. It's a good thing that my neighbor's a doctor, so he treated you here." She told him. "He advised me to let you get some rest and that you'll be awake after a three days or so. It's really a relief that you're fine now! Your head was bleeding the first time I saw you."

Now that she mentioned it, there was a throb of pain that came from his head that he felt after he woke up. He flinched at the realization. He brought his hand to his head to find that there was a band of clothing tied to it.

"Ah wait!" The blonde girl exclaimed, making him forget momentarily about the pain on his head. "I'm Cagalli! You are?"

"Me?" He started to panic yet again. She just nodded yet again and waited for him to answer.

Reluctantly, he looked at the eyes of this woman that had beautiful hazel eyes and spoke.

"I don't know."

-o0o-

A/N: Tadaaa! Done! I've had this idea for a long time and it's only now that I decided to write it down. Review! Hihi.


	2. The Land of Peace

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny

Chapter 2: The Land of Peace

-o0o-

"He has amnesia." The doctor told Cagalli when he got the results of the brain examination. Immediately after her guest woke up and told her that he couldn't remember a thing about who he was, she decided that it was best that they visited a hospital to make sure he was all right. Since the hospital was still in town and she lived near the shore, it took a bus ride to go there.

"Amnesia?" Cagalli nodded, predicting that it would be the result of the check-up. She looked over at the man beside her, who was showing a worried expression. He wasn't saying anything, but it looked very confused. When their eyes met each other, she gave her a reassuring smile to lessen the very serious atmosphere.

"Yes, amnesia, retrograde amnesia to be exact. The tests that were conducted show that there is indeed a damage in the hippocampus area of your brain, which is why your episodic memory was affected." He explained further, while turning his attention to the patient they conducted the exam on. "You probably must have been on an accident or something and got your head hit hard in the process."

"I see." Cagalli thought that it was probably what happened before he ended up at her place.

He remained silent at that moment, not knowing what to say or do in that particular situation. It was a memory loss? Terrible sadness overwhelmed him at that moment. Here he was, waking up in a very foreign place, not knowing even the name of the girl he woke up to even was. Then when it came to the question of what his name was, his mind was empty. Another followed the question, yet he still had nothing to respond to her. Closing his eyes, he tried to think even harder, but nothing was coming to mind. Not a single thing came to his mind. So that was what it was, he had amnesia. It shocked him immensely and it was a good thing that Cagalli was doing all of the talking and response for him.

"His semantic memory though, wasn't affected, that's why he can still speak and read, and basically he still has general knowledge of things about this world." The doctor continued, putting the results of the exam down on his table.

"Doctor, what can we do about this?" She asked him. "Do we need to put him to therapy or something? Medication that he needs to take perhaps?"

"Well he underwent the tests to see which part of his brain is damaged which is actually good." The doctor paused for a moment before saying more. "In cases of retrograde amnesia, the person usually just recovers spontaneously. We really don't expect it, but the patient suddenly remembers something about his past and then they recover everything soon enough. But usually the family of the victim tries to aid the patient to get his memories faster by exposing him to things that he's been doing in the past, or reminding him of past information, although there's no guarantee that the memories will come back, it's worth a shot. But given the situation that you're in, I don't think you can do that."

The doctor was right. Before he was taken to her house, Cagalli had no idea who he was. Her visitor was just found by her neighbors that were fishermen, they also had no idea how he came to be floating in the ocean in the first place. So how could she try and remind him about things about his past? This is a tough one.

"Did he have a wallet on him or something when he arrived at your place? Maybe it could give us all the answers." He asked her and it was answered by Cagalli shaking her head no. That was the first thing that she tried to find on him, but there was none.

"This is problematic." The doctor sighed.

-o0o-

After the check-up was done, Cagalli told him that she wanted to eat. She could have cooked at home, but her stomach was really growling so she decided to just eat out. Even though he didn't say a word about it, she knew that he would be hungry. The bus ride going to the town took almost an hour. Plus, they also waited for a long time to have the brain tests, to find out the results and also for their turn to be able to talk with the doctor.

She chose to eat at the diner near the hospital, and asked for his opinion. "I'm starving! Would you like to eat at this diner?" She said to him while pointing to the diner. "You know, their burgers are the best!"

He was unsure of what to answer. She had done enough by bringing him to the hospital, and taking care of him during the days that he was still unconscious. Now, she was going to treat him to lunch. He really owed her a lot.

It seemed like he didn't know what to respond to her, so it was decided then, they would eat there. "Let's go in." She was trying her best to make him feel comfortable around her.

When they got seated in the restaurant, she ordered a burger and asked him what he wanted. His eyes were fixated on the menu. The burger was four Orb dollars, it read. The pasta meal was seven dollars. Fries were two dollars. By just looking at the prices, he couldn't tell how expensive the food here was. The best decision was to order something very cheap, or to not order anything at all.

"I'm not really hungry…" He told her. The waitress rolled her eyes. Must have been because she was standing there and waiting for him to order, and then he tells her that he didn't really like to eat anything.

"You're lying!" He saw her companion pout, interrupting the waitress as she repeated the orders. He noticed that the waitress rolled her eyes yet again. Although he could tell that she understood why he was acting like that, she was still persistent. She didn't want him to be shy around her. "How can you not be hungry? We haven't eaten in hours! You're eating with me, okay?" Turning back to the waitress, she said. "Make that two burger meals!"

The waitress left their table to give the order slip to the kitchen. He didn't try to argue anymore, but was just thankful that she ordered for him as well. He had to admit, he was pretty hungry.

The food finally came. Cagalli was thrilled when she saw the burgers. They looked absolutely mouthwatering. The patties were thick and juicy and it also had tomatoes, lettuce and cheese on it. The aroma of the burgers filled her nostrils and she couldn't wait to take a bite.

"Let's eat!" She waited for him to get a hand on his burger before finally taking a bite on her own.

Her guest was really quiet even though she tried to have a lengthy conversation with him. She asked her about how he found the diner's burger, to which he responded 'okay'. She told him that it was her favorite place to eat when she was young, but it seemed like he didn't know how to respond to that. He spoke a word or two from time to time when she kept blabbering random things, but was mostly silent. It was she who was doing ninety-nine percent of the talking.

It was like he was a new kid in class, who was very shy. She could tell that he really was listening, although he didn't respond that much. But Cagalli understood and let him take his time. If she were in his place, she might have acted the same. Waking up in an unknown place, unable to remember how you got there and everything about your past is something that would make a person completely timid. Worse, maybe even feeling dejected and frustrated. But which is why she was trying her hardest to reach out to him, so that he could be comfortable with her.

Cagalli then saw that he was starting to enjoy his burger, so she stopped talking. He might lose his appetite if she kept obliging him by responding to what she says. Instead, she began to observe him. This guy was certainly not from around here. He didn't have that rural vibe on him. Maybe he was from a city? Possibly, he could be from another island here at Orb. Or another country perhaps? How did he end up floating in the ocean anyway? She didn't know.

What if he was a prince that went missing? It was crazy to think that, but the odds of could be at least one percent. Why not? After all, he really looked like a prince. By just observing him eat, she could tell that he really has proper table manners, unlike the boys back their neighborhood. He had the habit of putting a tissue on his mouth when he was chewing, and did not bother to swallow everything immediately even though he was also famished.

His muscular body was something that royal princes need so they could protect any damsel that was in distress. She wasn't being a pervert or anything for noticing that, but when they were changing him into dry clothes at her house, she noticed that his body was well built.

She had to admit, she found him really handsome as well. His face, which she found, was so gentle and very much prince-like. He might be the most attractive guy she had ever laid eyes on yet. No wonder her neighbor, when she dropped by Cagalli's house, was drooling over him even while he slept. When he finally awakened from his sleep, she was really surprised, if he was handsome even while he slept, he looked ten times more handsome when he was awake. Just wow. No wonder her neighbor, when she dropped by Cagalli's house, was drooling over him even while he slept. She hoped it didn't seem like she was star struck with him that time he first opened his eyes.

It was possible. He could be a prince! She then imagined him in prince attire, looking so gallant in a white horse and galloping off to the castle to meet his princess. Fairy tales weren't exactly her cup of tea even back in her childhood days. But this has to be that one exception.

She didn't realize that she was actually gaping at him. The only moment she snapped out of it when he finally stopped eating and turned to her. Cagalli could only look away blushing, feeling embarrassed about what she had done. She turned her attention to her meal and continued to eat.

"Uhm…" He started to speak. Finally! Her shy companion was starting a conversation with her. Or maybe it was because he also noticed that she was staring at him for a while now… She hoped not!

"Yes?" She urged him to continue and tried to contain her excitement.

"Thank you." He uttered in a faint voice. If it weren't for the fact that there were only a few customers inside the diner, and that the music was paused because the manager had to take a phone call, she wouldn't even be able to hear it.

He continued, but his voice slightly louder than before. "Thank you for taking care of me while I was unconscious, taking me to the hospital and now treating me to lunch." Even if it was still awkward for him to even talk to her, he mustered up all of his courage to say that to her. He really wanted her to know that he really appreciated her kindness towards him by what she had been doing for him up to this point.

"You're welcome!" She gave him a thumb's up and was happy that in some way she was able to help him. "I'm glad to be of help!"

She went back to eating her food cheerfully. By just looking at her, she was really a good-natured person. It didn't seem like she was expecting any kind of reward for helping it, but she was doing it anyway. In some way, it made him feel kind of guilty.

"Also, sorry for being such a burden." Truly, he realized that he might have been causing her a bit of inconvenience. She did not even know him personally but yet she had been really kind to him. "You paid for the check-up and this lunch and also it must have been a bother to take care of me and to take me here to the hospital."

She realized that he was starting to feel bad about everything that she was doing for him when he shouldn't be. "Hey, don't worry about it too much." She tried to cheer him up, because he was feeling really down by holding his hand that rested on the table and squeezing it. It was nothing really. She really wanted to help him, even in the smallest way possible. "It's okay! You're not really a burden to me! Don't think of yourself that way. I want to help you."

He still seemed unsure about staying with her. It felt really unsettling to depend on someone who didn't even know him. Yet, even if he had these sentiments, where would he go? He had nowhere to go. Maybe he would be found starving and dead on the streets if he decided to leave her house. The efforts of his rescuers and Cagalli taking care of him would be in vain.

"I'll tell you again, don't worry about it." She insisted, squeezing his hand again to catch his attention. "Until you regain even some of your memories and find out who your family is, you can stay at my place."

When he didn't respond to that, she continued to talk. "Besides, back in our community, that's how we do things. We really like to help other people so that they can get back on their feet. You know, even if it's just a small problem, we try to help in any way we can. That's why this country is called 'The Land of Peace'. It's so peaceful here."

That seemed to convince him and he thanked her again. That was really a relief. He was grateful that Cagalli was very kind and generous. Maybe in his own little way, he could be of some help to her, no matter how small it could be. "I wish I could remember something soon enough."

She noticed that her hand was still on his, and she blushed at this. She grabbed hold of her drink and sipped from it to avoid stuttering. Looking over at his direction, his downcast expression still hasn't changed a bit even though he warmed up to the idea of her giving him a hand.

She wanted to help him badly. But what could she do? She had no clue as to who this guy even was so she had no way of reminding him about who he was and other things about his past. There was nothing that he brought with him on his way to her house. He had no bag, phone or even a wallet. All he had on were his clothes that were really soaked with the saltwater.

That's it!

His clothes!

Cagalli's eyes were wide open in the realization. She even dropped her utensils on the table as soon as it came to mind. Of course! No matter how small the probability, his garments could give them a clue as to who he was. If they were lucky, there might be something inside the pockets that she failed to check. She could also check the brand of the clothes to find out where he got them!

She turned to him. "Are you finished eating? Let's hurry home!" Her eyes were beaming with hope as soon as it came to mind. "Maybe we can find something out with the clothes you were wearing that time!"

"My clothes!" He was starting to be more enthusiastic now. "That's right." He nodded and felt optimism overtaking him. Even the smallest hint that it could give him would really be of use. Closing his eyes, he wished that they could find something there.

"Let's go!" They went out of the restaurant and walked to the bus stop.

-o0o-

Getting off the bus, the both of them dashed to Cagalli's house in excitement. They could not wait to check his clothes. She hurriedly got the house keys from her bag and unlocked the doorknobs. He closed the door behind him and followed her to the room he stayed in while he was recovering. She opened the cabinet and got the dry garments inside it.

"Here it is." Cagalli placed it on the bed. She went outside the room and when she came back, she carrying her laptop with her. Putting it on the bed next to the clothes, she turned it on and sat on the bed as well. "You should check what brands these clothes are and I'll look it up on the Internet."

It made sense to him. By doing all of this, they could possibly find out where he came from. He nodded and checked the polo first. He looked at the tag that was beneath the back collar and read. "The brand of this one is Lacoste."

"Oh that's a pretty famous brand that rich people buy. I see that on billboards in the city." She said while she searched the web. Almost every country has that store, so it was no help for them. "Your pants?"

He examined the pair of jeans then told her. "It says 'Lee'."

"That is also an exclusive brand." She read the search engine results, clicking every link that showed when she pressed 'search'. "According to their official website, there's no branch here in Orb so this means you don't really live here…"

"Or could it be that maybe I live here in Orb, but I just bought it from another country?" He suggested.

"You could be right." She agreed. "You ordered it online perhaps? Or there's someone who bought this for you. There are really a lot of possibilities." She opened the notepad application in her laptop and started to type what they have been discussing.

"Uhm…" Cagalli started again. "What about your…" It was really awkward to ask about his underwear, so she just pointed shyly to it. She couldn't just blurt out the word 'brief', but she just couldn't say it. It was awkward for her even if she was the friendly type.

He realized what she was trying to say so he laughed at that. He found it funny and she was glad that he was starting to lighten up. "This is Calvin Klein…" He said.

Blushing, she searched for the brand and read the results. "That brand is only found in this continent and it has yet to expand to other countries as well." She also listed that in the notepad. "There's a high chance that you're from the Atlantic Federation."

Relief overcame him. He was one step closer to figuring out who he really was. He sat down next to Cagalli and read what she was typing. "Probability from the Atlantic Federation is very high. English is also the language he speaks. Might not be from Orb (but not really sure about this one). Also probably is very rich." He paused for a moment and became surprised at the fourth bullet point she typed. "Rich? I'm probably rich?"

"Well I just inferred that with the brand of clothes that you were wearing." Cagalli told him. "I mean it's the logical to assume that, don't you think?"

"I guess you're right." He just agreed on what she wrote down since every possibility was worth considering at this point.

"Besides," She looked at him. "You do look like someone who grew up in a rich household." She remembered her speculation back in the restaurant that he somehow might be a prince. Fine, then maybe he wasn't a prince even if she strongly thought that he was. Being from a rich family would suffice.

"Really? Why?"

She turned away, and he could tell that her cheeks were tinted red. "I was observing you a while ago when we ate, you really appeared to be well-mannered. I got quite conscious of my table manners actually…"

He chuckled again, so that was why he felt like he was being watched a while ago. "I see… Even if I lost my memories, maybe some of my habits didn't go away." Remembering what the doctor said to them a while ago, he said that the personality of the person stays the same even if they lost their memory.

"Makes sense." She laughed too. "Well for now these are all I got. I can't draw something else out of the clothes you were wearing and the way you act. It's difficult to narrow it down further without any other clues. Sorry."

"It's okay!" He was actually thrilled that they already listed down some of the possibilities. It made him more optimistic that they were bound to discover something important in time. "Even if these are just a few, this can really help us. Let's hope that we find something soon."

"If only I knew your name, we could search for it and maybe it would appear in one of the articles posted on the Internet…" Her voice trailed off. That would easily solve their problems. Someone must have posted on the social networking sites about this guy's disappearance or blogged about it.

She was right. If only he had a card on him or something, but there was none.

"Now that we're in the topic of names, should I give you a nickname while we haven't figured out what your real name is?" She asked. It was weird that she had to refer to him as a 'stranger', 'visitor', 'guest' all the time. Besides, she thought of the perfect name for him.

"Sure." He gave his consent. It would be weird indeed if he had no name. How he imagined introducing himself to other people and it would go like this: _"Hi, my name is I-have-retrograde-amnesia-and-I'm-staying-with-Mis s-Cagalli-right-now."_ It was just so unnatural for any person to say all those when he could just say a one-word name..

"Or did you already think of a name?" She called out to him while she closed her laptop and put it on the bed. "It's okay with me if you already did! We can go with that!"

"No, no!" He shook his head. "I haven't thought of anything actually."

"Okay then…" She seemed excited that the decision was all up to her. "The name that I thought for was…"

"Was?" He wanted her to continue.

"Alex Dino!" She exclaimed, thinking that the name really suited him. Just calling him 'Alex' gave her the chills.

"Alex Dino?" He repeated what she just said. There was nothing wrong with that, he supposed.

"Is that a bad name?" She asked him when he didn't appear to be happy when she told him.

"No, not really." He reassured her. "Actually, it's not bad at all!" Really, he didn't think that it was. It was just queer to be actually thinking for a name when he was already that old.

"That's good to hear!" She clapped her hands. "Alex Dino it is!"

He was about to respond but they suddenly heard the doorbell ring.

"Who could that be?" Cagalli stood up, Alex stood up as well.

"It's okay, you can stay here. I'll get it!" Cagalli went down the stairs to get the door. When she opened it, she was surprised that it was the fisherman that found and brought Alex to her. Alex followed her, but waited by the stairs.

"Ahmed, what brings you here?" Cagalli was surprised that he visited her at this hour. Usually he would still be at the market at this time, selling the fish that they caught in the morning.

"Actually my dad told me to give you this." He held out his hand that contained something in it. She took it as a sign to open her palm and receive it. "He found it in our boat this morning."

"A watch?" She held what was in her hands and put it closer to her face. "Why are you giving me this?"

"I think it's that guy's watch." He pointed at Alex who was behind her. "It couldn't be anyone else's, that's for sure. We didn't clean the boat until today."

"Mine?" Alex walked closer to the door and Cagalli put the watch in his palm. He tried to probe the watch a bit moremore, but sadly, nothing still comes to mind. "This is mine?"

"Well yeah." Ahmed nodded and scratched his head.

"Thank you Ahmed!" Cagalli thanked him. "This could tell us more clues about where Alex came from."

"Thank you so much, Ahmed." Alex did the same.

"No problem." He shrugged it off and turned to Cagalli. "Listen Cagalli, I have to go back to the market now. My dad's waiting for me."

"Sure! I understand." He was walking away and Cagalli couldn't help but to bellow again. "Thank you Ahmed." He just raised his right hand in recognition and disappeared from their sight.

Cagalli closed the door behind her and smiled at Alex again, with a hint of teasing this time. "You know, I told you! You really are from a rich family! I'm really sure of it now! This watch confirmed it!"

"What makes you very certain about it this time?" He inquired, following Cagalli to the kitchen.

She opened the refrigerator and got a bottle of water. "Because…" Her voice trailed off as she went to the cupboard and got two glasses and headed back to the table where Alex was waiting. "…the watch that you have…." She poured water on the glasses before continuing. "…actually costs a fortune."

"Really?" He didn't really know or recognize that it was.

"Yes! Watches like these are more expensive than cars, you know." She laughed and chugged on one glass of water.

He examined the watch one more time. It looked really sturdy and classy, if he may put it. It didn't appear to be broken after being soaked in the water; rather, it still looked like it was a brand new watch. Even the materials used to make it seemed very expensive.

Flipping to the backside of the watch, he noticed that there was something written on it. "Hey Cagalli, there's something here."

"What is it?" She put the glass down and sat next to Alex on the wooden dining table.

"Something's written here…" He handed the watch to Cagalli for her to look at it as well.

"Oh right, there's an engraving." She told him and read it out loud. "A… ath… run. Athrun."

"Athrun." He repeated. "Athrun…"

"Hey you know, maybe this is your name!" Cagalli exclaimed, and it surprised him that she was very enthusiastic about all of this.

"You think so?" He asked her. "It sounds like a weird name…"

"Well, I remember my brother also having his name engraved on the back of his watch before." She told him. "But he also had his last name engraved."

"Athrun…" It went out of his lips again, but it just doesn't sound familiar.

Before he could continue on with his musing, he heard Cagalli heave a deep sigh. "What's the matter?"

"If this is your real name, then I guess we don't need to call you Alex anymore." It was a shame. She really thought that she could finally have a friend whose name was Alex. For some reason, she really loved that name.

He couldn't help but laugh. "You can still call me Alex if you want." He offered.

"Nooo!" She insisted. "How can you recover faster if I don't call you by your real name?"

"Well okay, you should call me by my real name."

"Okay then…" Then she started again. "Hey Athrun…" She put her elbow on the table and leaned on her palm.

"Yes?"

"Remember anything yet, Athrun?" Her eyes were locked on to him.

"Not yet."

"How about now, Athrun?" Her face was moving towards him, trying to make him hoot in laughter.

"Nope." He covered his mouth, just in case…

"Athrun, are flashbacks entering your mind now?" She really was emphasizing his name 'Athrun'.

"No." This was really funny for him, and he tried to hold in his laughter. She was really making fun of him.

"Athrun, do you think that Alex is a better name?"

"A little…"

"I thought so too… Athrun."

"Me too." He faced her gave her a grin that immediately made her conscious about how close their faces were.

She bolted up her chair and went towards the stairs. "Athrun, I think we should search for your name in the Internet. Maybe there would be results now since we have your first name at least." She dashed to the room to make sure that Athrun didn't see her tinted cheeks.

"Okay, okay." He drank the glass that Cagalli poured for him and put the two glasses on the sink before heading up.

With the looks of their progress, he might be staying here for a long time.

-o0o-

A/N: Doooone! Feedback please? :D


	3. On a Calm Day

A/N: Hello everyone! Here's a new chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny

Chapter 3: On a Calm Day

-o0o-

It was a very peaceful morning in Orb. The sun was shining bright, lighting the while neighborhood. Amidst the rays of the sun, it was still cool as the breeze blew around the place. The sky was beautifully blue. Birds chirped happily, flying from one place to another. Optimistic chattering of people walking to work could be heard outside.

Cagalli was sitting in her couch, reading a fiction book that she had wanted to read for a long time. Her head was leaning on the pillows and her feet were folded as they rested on the couch. This was her optimal position when she read. Athrun, on the other hand, was sitting like he was at a party while he reading the newspaper. She told him that he should try and sit more comfortably, but he responded that he was okay with that kind of position.

"You're being too uptight." She laughed, pausing from reading her book just to say that to him.

After having that conversation about the way that he sat, he focused his attention on the newspaper in his hands. He might find something about his identity there. Surely there must have been articles of a person missing?

But as he scanned the newspaper, there was no news at all. Maybe he wasn't from Orb after all? Probably, he should also look at newspapers of other countries surrounding Orb, like this Scandanavian Kingdom in one of articles. He continued on reading the article and he found himself reading the other articles about the latest news on the Orb government, sports section, lifestyle section and entertainment section.

This serene silence was then broken by a frantic knock on the door.

"Who could that be?" Cagalli put a bookmark on the page that she was currently reading and closed the book for the meantime. She looked at Athrun who shook his head 'no'. Truly, she had no idea who it was as she wasn't really expecting any visitors today. The person who was knocking seemed to have important business with Cagalli by the way the stranger was banging at her door.

Athrun was starting to fold the newspaper back in its original form but Cagalli had already stood up. "I'll get it the door." She smiled at him.

She disappeared from the living room and went towards the door. Athrun reopened the newspaper and immersed in it until he heard more than one pair of footsteps approaching the room.

"Where is he? I can't wait to see him!" He heard an unfamiliar voice of another woman becoming louder, as well as the footsteps. Could it possibly be someone that knew him? Closing the newspaper, he put it on the table and turned towards the entrance to the living room.

"He's here." He saw Cagalli enter the living room, sighing, and she was apparently with a red-haired woman. Observing the woman that was with Cagalli, he noticed that her jaw dropped slightly, looking very shocked as she finally got to see him. Who was she? Of course, there was nothing that was coming to his mind.

The red-haired woman clasped her hands together with joy. Athrun could even see her eyes beaming with excitement and happiness. Her palms were covering her mouth and they heard her try to control herself from squealing. With the way she was acting, it was possible that she was really someone that knew him before he lost his memories. At last, a person that he could ask about everything that he wanted and needed to know.

"He's awake! I can't believe it." She was saying to no one in particular, but remained very enthusiastic. She really looked happy to see him, however he couldn't really feel the same way because he couldn't really recognize her.

He had to admit, he didn't expect to be found very soon. When he and Cagalli were searching for clues the other day, he knew it would take a while before they found out who he really is. Cagalli might be right, he really must be from a rich family to have a very large amount of cash and resources to use to search for him and bring him back as soon as possible.

The girl started to walk slowly to him, leaving him clueless about how he should react to that. Should he step backwards, should he approach her? It was kind of creepy for him that someone he couldn't identify was doing that. But at the same time, what if she was someone that played an important role in his life? He didn't really know.

Turning his gaze to Cagalli, he noticed that she wasn't at all surprised by the woman's actions. Rather, she was raising her brow, finding the actions of the woman very ridiculous.

Finally, the girl was only a few centimeters away from him. He was taller than her so she looked up, her expression still very thrilled about what was happening. She examined his face with her prying eyes and he started to feel that it was a very awkward situation. She was drawing her face nearer to his, and to that, he gulped nervously, trying to lengthen the distance between their faces.

She started to open her mouth to speak, and he was getting more and more anxious.

"When you were asleep, I knew that you were a good-looking guy, but now that I get to see you wide awake, I didn't expect you to be this handsome! You're like the most handsome guy I've ever seen! Better than all those male models and actors that I've ever laid eyes on!" Athrun didn't even have time to process what she just said because seconds later, she completely threw herself at him. He wasn't prepared at all for that kind of impact and lost his balance. He fell on his back along with the red-haired woman that pounced on him.

"ATHRUN!" Cagalli's eyes widened as she saw the scene unfolding in front of her. A loud 'thump' was heard right after.

With that, Cagalli knew it was the time to intervene with what was happening. She ran to where Athrun fell and tried to talk to him to check whether he got knocked out by the fall. "Athrun! Are you all right? Answer me! Athrun!" She was worried that the wounds on his head would start bleeding again.

"I'm okay, Cagalli." He turned to face her and gave her a thumbs-up. But that really hurt, he was really knocked down by this girl forcefully.

"Are you sure?" Worry was really evident in her voice as she leaned towards him as he tried to contain the pain from stumbling on the ground unexpectedly. She grabbed a hold of his hand arm and squeezed it lightly. She didn't want Athrun's condition to worsen any further.

"I'm fine, really." He reassured her by giving her a smile to lighten up the concerned expression on Cagalli's face, not wanting to make her fret further. Although it really was painful, he knew that his body was fine. He didn't hit his head during the fall, so that was a good thing.

Turning to the red-haired woman, who was still sitting on him, she frowned. "Just what were you thinking Flay?" Cagalli was exasperated by what her friend had just done. "Did you just forget that Athrun was in a bad condition days ago?" Seriously Flay was really tactless at times.

Flay, the red-haired woman that sprung on Athrun, seemed to have a realization with what Cagalli said. She remembered that the reason why she visited was to see whether the handsome guy already was conscious. "Ohh right! His head was bleeding that time!" And she really forgot, which Cagalli didn't doubt. Aside from being tactless, she was also very forgetful. "I'm sorry about that! My emotions rushed in and I completely forgot about it!"

"Well if you're really sorry... Then get off him, will you?" Cagalli almost shouted at her to make her snap out of her blabbering. She couldn't believe that Flay was apologizing, but she was still on top of him.

"Sorry!" She realized that she was still squishing the poor injured guy. Apologizing again, Flay got off the man that was still lying and sat on the floor beside Cagalli. She kept on bowing her head continuously to express how she deeply regretted what she done. "I'm really so sorry for jumping on you! I guess it was a rush of emotions! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

He pulled himself up, with the help of Cagalli and smiled at her as well so that she wouldn't apologize as much. "It's okay, don't worry about it too much. It was nothing that bad." For him, it was really no big issue. It did hurt, yes, but it wasn't that big of a deal.

"He's just being nice." Cagalli joked and rolled her eyes at Flay when she appeared to be shocked that he was shrugging it off and was starting to feel relieved. "But deep down, he now hates you for doing that to him."

"Of course not." Athrun chuckled by looking at the dread-stricken face of the woman that Cagalli called 'Flay'. He wouldn't arrive at hating her by that shallow reason alone. He was sure she didn't mean it.

"After what I did to you, you still forgave me! Plus, you even smiled at me and it took my breath away!" Turning to Cagalli, she said. "He's such a gentleman! My kind of dream boy!" Flay's eyes were sparkling yet again. "I think I'm falling in love with him already!" She exclaimed, from her tone of voice, it sure seemed like she was certain about what she was saying.

"Whaaat?!" Cagalli's tone was full of disbelief. Did Flay really just say that? "Didn't you just say last week that you were still head over heels in love with my brother?"

"I did!" Flay wasn't denying that fact at all. "But you also said that he was dating that pink-haired pop star for a while now!" She pouted. "That gave me a heartbreak, but now, I've decided to move on. In an instant, she was already by Athrun's side, leaning her head on his shoulders.

Athrun did not know what he should say at that moment. He thought that she was somehow a person from his past. But, by the way that she and Cagalli talked, it seemed like this girl, Flay, was Cagalli's friend.

"You'll help me move on, won't you?" She purred and faced him, trying to seduce him. He gulped nervously again, trying to avoid looking at her. He was getting very uncomfortable with the situation that he was in.

"Uhm…" That was all he could say.

Cagalli gasped in horror, Flay was somehow serious about this, since it didn't work out with her brother at all. When she gets attracted to a guy, she does her best to make the guy like her as well. It seemed like a joke, since Cagalli knew that Flay liked her brother, but the way that she was acting told her otherwise. For some reason, she didn't like what was happening. "Flay, what are you saying? Stop imposing things like that on others!" She told her, trying to pull her away because she was sticking too close to Athrun.

Athrun had no idea how to deal with this, so he decided that it was best that he kept quiet.

"Why not?" Flay raised her eyebrows at her while refusing to let go of the hold she had on Athrun's shoulders. "Did you try to make a move on him while he was unconscious?" Flay gave her a mischievous look.

"N-no! Why would I do that?"

"It's not like he's already your boyfriend! Now is he?"

Cagalli blushed at what she just said. Really, she was just so straightforward! "O-of course not!" She stammered, trying to defend herself.

"If you say that he's not your boyfriend, then I don't see the problem." Flay gave her a satisfactory look indicating that it was she had won in this conversation. She stood up, motioning Athrun to do the same as her arms were still around his. "Would you like to stay at my place while you recover? We'll do a lot of things together. We'll eat, sleep and take a bath together. I can scrub your back for you…" She was using her free hand to play around with the sleeve of the shirt that he was wearing. Flay didn't noticed that the person he was clinging on to was getting chills from what she was doing and saying.

To be honest, it didn't sound like a good idea to him.

"No way! No way! I won't allow it!" Cagalli burst out, stopping her while she enumerated her fantasies. Athrun was to move in with Flay while he was still here in Orb? Like hell that she would allow that to happen! Cagalli was using all of her force to pry Flay away from Athrun. "Let him go! He's not going with you."

"No." Flay's was a tease and sure was amused with what she was doing. "You'll love my house, its nice and cozy there. Unlike Cagalli's plain old house."

"Flay! Let him go!" Cagalli continued to say, ignoring Flay's insult on her house.

"No."

"I'll pull your hair out of your scalp!" She threatened. "I will really do that if you're not planning to let him go!"

"You're being selfish Cagalli!" Flay continued to make fun of her while gripping to Athrun as tight as she could. "Why don't you ask-" She stopped at what she was saying and turned to her friend.

"What did you say his name was?" Flay whispered to her friend.

"You don't even know his name and you're asking him to move in with you?!" Cagalli was beyond stupefied, but that didn't stop her to take advantage of the situation. Since Flay was a bit distracted and she noticed that the hold that she had on Athrun loosened up a bit, the blonde pulled her away with full force. Cagalli then moved in between the both of them, shielding the disconcerted Athrun from her aggressive friend.

"That's unfair!" She pouted again, clearly frustrated about what happened. "You're playing dirty Cagalli! Pulling me away from my dream boy while I was asking you a question!"

"Serves you right." Cagalli stuck her tongue out, feeling good that she had won this battle.

Flay crossed her shoulders, feeling a bit annoyed that Cagalli managed to outsmart her. "You're too lucky. You have a cool and good-looking brother. Now Ahmed and Sahib let you take care of this handsome guy! What an unfair world this is! I hate this!" She let out her bitterness against her friend.

"Too bad for you." She grinned. It wasn't her fault that her brother was good-looking and that Sahib chose her to take care of Athrun.

Holding her head up high, Flay refused to admit defeat. "Fine, you might have won this battle, Cagalli. But I'll win the war!"

"How very profound…" Cagalli's voice trailed off, obviously trying to make fun of her friend.

"I'm serious!" Flay defended. "I'm going home! I'll also think of a strategy to steal him away from you! Then he'll come running to live with me."

"Good luck with that."

She was making her way out of the living room, and then she turned back to their direction again. When she did, the expression on her face was entirely different from the one that she had on moments ago. Her face was now radiant and cheerful, as if she had been in a good mood all day.

"Dream boy…" She called out to Athrun, which surprised him. "I have a question…"

"Yes?" He responded nervously.

"What's your name?"

"Athrun, my name's Athrun." He answered her, trying to be alert just in case she does anything out of the ordinary again.

"How sexy…" She smirked yet again. "I'll come back for you, but goodbye for now!" She bid him goodbye but stuck her tongue out when she turned to Cagalli. With that she showed herself to the door and was gone.

-o0o-

"I'm sorry about what happened a while ago." Cagalli told him when they were preparing their lunch. She was washing the vegetables that they would cook just in a few moments. "It's a good thing though that your wounds didn't get worse after she jumped on you."

"Don't worry about it. It's fine." He reassured her. Shrugging it off, he continued to cut and dice the vegetables.

"Did she make you feel uncomfortable?" She asked as she headed for the fridge to get some garlic and onions to slice. The next thing that she said was barely audible because she was getting embarrassed just thinking about it. "Especially when she touched you and stuff…"

"A bit…" Okay, he lied. It really made him feel really uneasy but he didn't want it to be such an issue. Maybe it was just a joke between the two friends because Flay seemed like she was really enjoying the fact that Cagalli was getting annoyed with what she was doing.

"I'm also sorry about that. Flay really has that weird side to her." She laughed as she handed the vegetables that she got from the fridge. "There are times that she immediately likes a guy the moment she lays eyes on him. I can't even count the number of times she told me that she's been falling for a man. Man, I wonder how she can even do that. Today she likes this person, then tomorrow, she's having a fancy on another."

Athrun chuckled at that. It was a good thing that she told him these or else she would have thought that Flay was really serious about all that she had said to him earlier. He later found out after Flay went home that she wasn't a person that knew him before the accident. She was Cagalli's friend who lived nearby.

"But you know, despite her being weird and all, she's actually a nice person." She told him, just in case he got the wrong idea. "You know what, when I actually needed to go out of the house to run errands, she actually watched you for me, just in case you suddenly woke up." She remembered the times that Flay kept on saying that he was such a good-looking guy even while he slept.

"I should thank her the next time we she visits." What Cagalli said was true; people here in this place truly are kind. Even though Flay acted in a way that made him uncomfortable, she actually was kind-hearted as well.

"But I hope she just doesn't try to flirt with you or anything, or invite you to move in with her." She was lighting up the stove and from where he was standing, he could see that Cagalli pouting. Clearly, she really wasn't amused when Flay tried to act all familiar with him. For some odd reason, he somehow found that childish expression of hers, endearing.

Aside from that, he couldn't help but notice how headstrong she was. When Flay tried to persuade him that he should stay at her place instead, she was really stubborn and refused to agree to it. Because of that, it was Flay that gave up in the end. That attitude of hers was really something. He then wondered if he was like that in his past life, whether he always stood up for what he believe in and had strong conviction.

"I won't." He promised her as he handed her the chopped vegetables. "Not unless you would have wanted me to, then I would."

"What are you saying?" She got the vegetables from him and put them in the boiling water. "I wouldn't want you to leave…" She realized that she said something so straightforward that she decided to say more before he got the wrong idea. The next thing that she knew, she was speaking in a faltering manner. "B-b-but but but, of course if you wanted to l-leave, t-then I can't do anything about that…"

He continued to remain silent and that was why she continued on spluttering more words. "W-what she says is true though! Her house is actually nicer because she has good taste in furniture and how they would compliment every little detail of her house. She also cooks great stuff unlike my cooking. I bet you'd like what she cooks too. Everyone does." She then turned to him, nervously waiting for a response.

At first, he didn't know how to respond to that. He was confused. Was she actually discouraging him to stay in her house? But with the look on her face, it seemed like she was feeling a bit inferior to what her friend had to offer for him.

He turned to her and touched her lightly on the shoulder, which made her insides flutter a bit. "Cagalli…" He looked at her very gently that she couldn't even tear her eyes away from him. His eyes were doing it yet again. Those emerald olds dazzling her and making her face feel all warm. "I want to stay here. Would that be okay?" He tilted his head slightly with the last word that he said and smiled and Cagalli swore that her head might have exploded if it could.

She nodded. That was the only thing that she could do at the moment, as she couldn't muster a proper reply.

"Thank you." He smiled at her again expressing relief that she agreed. In truth, Athrun really didn't want to go anywhere else. Cagalli was warm and he was very comfortable being around her even if they just met days ago. He was really grateful that the people who rescued him decided to choose her to take care of him. He couldn't imagine being anywhere else. Besides, she had been too nice to him by helping him with everything that it would be just rude to just abandon her and move to another house, even if it meant more convenience.

"Welcome." She muttered, trying to conceal that she was beyond happy that Athrun decided to stay with her.

"By the way, I have a question." They were waiting for the vegetables to cook and he decided to ask her something that made him curious for a long time.

"What is it?" She was glad that Athrun was getting more used to her. At first he was really shy, but now he occasionally is the one that starts a conversation with her.

"You keep mentioning your brother, are the clothes that I'm wearing right now, all belong to your brother?" He touched the fabric of the shirt that he had on.

"Yes those are my brother's! Actually, he's my twin brother, my younger twin brother." She emphasized cheerfully, finally out of that flustered moment. "I was worried that they wouldn't fit you, but then it's very fortunate that you two have the same body size." Maybe she would end up buying him clothes if it didn't.

"If you don't mind me asking again, where's your brother?" He asked. He was grateful he had clothes to wear, but he was curious. Where was the owner of these clothes? Cagalli had a family picture in her living room, but she never told her where they were.

"Oh they he lives in the city. He has work there. My brother, mother and… father. They all do." She told him, her voice was less cheerful than it was seconds ago and Athrun noticed that. "I'm the only one who lives here."

Athrun didn't know how to respond to that, so instead, he let her continue. Perhaps she was lonely because she wasn't with her family. While she was here, the rest of her family could easily see each other.

"But they visit me once in a while though!" She told him. "When they do, they bring too many chocolates and junk food that I can't even finish it all by myself without getting really fat. Maybe they'll show up soon! I can't wait for you to meet them! You and my brother will get along very well! I just know it." She was back to her old bright and sunny self.

"I can't wait to meet them too!" He said to her, feeling a bit nervous. Would they dislike him being here? Or maybe they were as kind as Cagalli?

They finally finished the preparations and the cooking and started to eat. As they ate, Cagalli wondered if she should tell him more about her family. But somehow, she hesitated to.

-o0o-

A/N: Done! Review please. :)

Nyahaha! Did you all think that the red-haired girl was Meyrin? Haha it would be too soon for that!


	4. Seen and Unseen

Hey everyone! Sorry if this update took me longer than the other chapters. I've started working just this June so I was doing some work stuff and also adjusting how I manage my time. But anyway, here is the newest chapter!

Chapter 4: Seen and Unseen

Step.

Lift.

Step.

Lift.

He had been doing this for a while now.

He trudged along, following Cagalli's tracks. _She's way ahead of me_. He thought to himself as he struggled to catch up. She looked really small from the distance between them. He saw that she was already with Flay and the others. Tilting his head down, he kept his eyes to her footmarks that were already imprinted almost a minute ago.

Both his feet were sunk in the marsh. Cagalli advised him to remove his slippers when they got to the muddy part of their walk, as it would get in the way. She told him that there were shells and tiny crustaceans there, which he though would stab his sole. There was a slight stubbornness in him, which was why he kept the pair on his feet. It was the first time for him to go to a marsh. Maybe in the past, he had, but of course he doesn't remember.

Alas, he made the wrong decision. He couldn't move freely as the slippers seemed to be glue itself on the marsh with every step. To remove his feet of the slimy ground, he had to yank his leg with a bit more force than the normal. It required a lot of effort, really.

The reason behind wearing the slippers was to prevent his feet to be smeared by the mud. From the looks of it, whether he chose to wear slippers or not, his feet would still be dirty. He could see that the spaces between his toes were already soiled. Plus, the former choice was more of a hassle.

How everyone else walked without difficulty in this marsh, it was a complete wonder to him.

Sighing in defeat, he removed his slippers and he let both of his feet be completely submerged in the mud. It was cold, clammy and uncomfortable yes, but he could walk better than before. Pausing for a brief moment, he realized that nothing was really pricking his soles and that he was just speculating too much.

"Athrun!" Cagalli called out to him and he shifted his attention from avoiding visible shells and crabs that he could see to look at her. He was even unsure where she now was because there were a lot of people from the village who went to help in planting the mangroves. Maybe there were fifteen of them more or less. Looking for her wasn't really difficult, as her red shirt immediately caught his line of sight.

He got embarrassed when he saw that Cagalli didn't move from where she was standing and decided to wait for him. The pace of his movement increased so as to lessen the time that she would have to wait for him. With that amount of effort that he put in, he caught up with Cagalli, who had a very worried expression on her face.

"I'm sorry for having to bring you all the way here." She looked really guilty just looking at her companion struggling so much with the marsh. The expression on his face was funny though; she imagined that deep down he didn't like the feeling of the mud on his feet and it was taking a whole lot of his composure to hide from her that he found it gross. This guy in front of her was rich, according to the clues that they got from his things. So it was reasonable to assume that it was his first time going to a mangrove forest. Besides, she also felt thought that it was gross the first time she went to the mangrove forests, but slowly gotten used to it.

The reason that they were here today is because Sahib and Ahmed invited them to participate in the mangrove rehabilitation project that would take place today. Cagalli was really excited with the idea and pleaded for him to come as well. Since he had nothing to do anyway, and because he just couldn't say no to her requests because of the things that she had done for him, he agreed without hesitation.

'_This is something new and it sounds fun."_ He remembered musing to himself, seeing the way that Cagalli's hazel eyes brightened with enthusiasm, he really didn't have the hear to say no to her. Planting mangroves really sounded interesting. Plus, he felt like they were like forest rangers in helping to restore natural resources.

What he didn't expect what the difficulty of walking in the marsh. And he thought that Cagalli was just joking when she mentioned that it still sometimes creeps her out, even though she had been doing that for a long time now. Every time he took a step, he felt like he was going to slip. He even imagined what sort of creatures were at the mercy of his feet at the moment. What else was in the muddy swamp?

"Hey, are you okay?" She cut into his train of thoughts. He realized that he spacing out.

He nodded and smiled. Although she wanted to go on this adventure, she might decide to just turn around and go back home if he gives her even the tiniest hint that he also found the marsh a tad gross. He was a guy for crying out loud! He shouldn't be thinking that way. Besides, this was for the mangroves. This marsh was just an obstacle.

"Let's go then." Cagalli put her arm on Athrun's waist, just in case he loses his balance yet again. When he put his hand on her shoulder, she couldn't help but feel her body temperature rise, unbeknownst to her companion. His hand on her bare shoulders, it just felt so warm. She shook her head fiercely; she should stop all of these thoughts before she went insane.

She felt that Flay was giving her that knowing look because when she looked back at them, she gave her a glare and she didn't look amused that her blonde friend was hogging Athrun to himself. But it was a good thing that there were other men there to distract her from going to their direction.

On the way to the forest area, he tried to forget the slimy sensation on his feet by asking Cagalli all sorts of things. He asked her about mangroves. It was a good thing that she was so talkative like always, that he momentarily forgot about the marsh that they were treading on and how unpleasant his foot felt. Mangroves, she started, were almost depleted thirty years ago as the people unknowingly used them for firewood or as a material to built their houses.

By then, the people noticed that the more that they cut, the less food they get from the area. Before the people in the island used to eat crabs at least once a week, but they noticed that the number of crustaceans and other kinds of fishes have been decreasing in that area where they once easily found them. Their livelihood was also affected because without anything to sell, it became harder for them.

Flooding also became an issue. Whenever there were strong storms, the people near the shores would stay at their friend or relative's house for the time being.

He was listening intently to everything that she was saying that he didn't notice that they arrived at the mangrove forest area. He was able to realize it when they were handed a basket that contained the propagules, rope and wood. She quickly let go of his hold on him and received the basket from Sahib. As she took out a handful of long and green seeds, he gave her a clueless expression. Frankly, he had no idea what to do with it. Cagalli noticing his expression, once again laughed. She really was laughing at him so much, but he didn't mind.

"You remove this round thing, errr, I don't even know what this round thing is actually called…" She stated apologetically, while trying to demonstrate what she was doing to Athrun. "Anyway, you remove it from the propagule, this green long thing." With one pull, she tossed the round object back to the basket. He did the same thing and then waited for her to continue.

"Hand me the rope please." She asked him, to which he complied.

She got the thin threads of rope and did the unexpected. Using her teeth, she managed to cut the long rope so it would only be two inches long each. He had to admit, his jaw dropped big time. Rope. Teeth. No scissors. He marveled at the fact that she bit the rope apart instead of using the pair of scissors that were given to them. He looked around and everyone else seemed to be using the scissors. Even though she looked really beautiful, she was doing things that were very unusual for a girl to be doing.

Wait did his mind just tell him that he found her really beautiful?

Well she really was. She wasn't like the girls that he saw in town and in their neighborhood that really wore girly clothes. She wasn't like Flay who always seemed to want to look nice all the time. Even with the simple and rather boyish clothes that she wore, he had always found her to be so striking, especially with those sincere and bright hazel eyes of hers.

Even the first time that he saw her, he couldn't help but muse to himself that the woman that had nursed him to health and let him stay at her house was really just an angel in disguise.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" His contemplation was interrupted by her defensive voice and probing expression.

"Erm… Uhm… Err…" Frankly he didn't know what to answer her. _Just now,_ _I couldn't help but admire how beautiful you are. _Of course he couldn't say that. He might not have a place to stay afterwards if he dared to say it. He didn't dare look at her and tried to distract himself with the mangroves and the propagules in his hands.

"Find it unconventional that I gnawed the rope?" She was teasing him, he could tell.

"Well, I guess… Yeah… Kinda… Maybe… Sort of… A bit…" It was the perfect alibi but he stuttered as he tried to look for words that wouldn't appear offensive but he ended up saying everything at once.

"Okay…" She decided to let it go since it was making him nervous as hell. "Fine, I'll use the scissors. Just don't look at me like that! It's like I'm an alien or something…" She retorted, not knowing that the reason why his eyes were on her was nothing of the sort.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to offend you!" He tried to redeem himself but Cagalli was already shrugging it off.

"It's fine, it's fine. Don't worry about it." She reassured him. He really took everything seriously! She figured that his personality was really like that, even before he lost his memory.

He was already handing her some of the rope that he had managed to cut as a sign of apology for his rudeness. She couldn't help but laugh at this apologetic gesture; he really was too uptight.

They went to work, tying the propagules to the tiny pieces of wood stuck to the marsh. Cagalli explained that in this way, they could prevent the propagules from being easily washed away when the tides close in and until they grow stronger to be stand on their own.

Athrun found it enjoyable. Not only was he able to help the environment by helping in planting the mangroves. But he was able to also spend time with the people in their neighborhood. They were really warm and kind. A good number of the people that were here were familiar to him because they have dropped by Cagalli's house to share with her the food that they had and they chatted with him for a while, asking how he was doing. Even though he was the new kid on the block, they treated him as if he was already a part of their community.

They shared with him stories about their families and daily lives. He found out that most of the people in the local area were fishermen or farmers. So that was why they were always sharing with Cagalli their latest catch from the sea or grain of rice often.

"You know, a lot of men here have tried and are trying to court Cagalli." Mana whispered to him. She was one of Cagalli's neighbors, an old lady who had three kids who were all fishermen. "My grandson, Ahmed, tried to court her before but he couldn't win her heart. A lot of the men that have tried did not succeed. My, my, our Cagalli says she still hasn't found the right man for her."

When Mana was telling him that, he couldn't help but look in Cagalli's direction, which wasn't that far from where he was standing. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he straightened his posture and looked towards where she was at. She was with Flay and another neighbor of theirs named Abby. They were all laughing heartily as they chatted and planted the mangroves.

It didn't surprise him that she had a lot of suitors. If it were otherwise, then it might have shocked him immensely. She had a really kind heart. She always wanted to help in any way that she can to make things better. That was why a lot of people from the local area always gave her fruits and all sorts of food, to thank her for everything that she did for them.

Aside from that, she was really adorable and charming, always managing to make other people feel very lively and cheerful in her presence. Whenever she smiled, he felt all warm and happy inside. Literally, it was like she was a ray of sunshine that descended from the sky.

"You know what…" Mana whispered to him again. "I think you might be the one for her." She gave him a smug grin, which made him blush in embarrassment.

"Me?" He gulped nervously, unable to concentrate on the mangroves as he dropped the propagules on the marsh. For Mana to say that in a very straightforward manner, it surprised him.

"Yes!" She nodded fervidly. "I really think that you two make a very wonderful couple! Besides, you two live under one roof, am I wrong?"

"We do…" He answered her politely, but was sensing where this topic was headed.

The old lady sniggered to herself. "You two already look like newlyweds! Husband and wife just starting their lives together forever!"

"Newlyweds?!" Athrun's eyes were wide in shock as she stared at Mana who was still working on the mangrove-planting project.

"The neighbors think so!

"Mana! Athrun!" He saw Cagalli excusing himself from Flay and Abby and was walking towards them. "What are you two talking about?" The expression on her face was a very innocent yet her tone was very eager. She was curious since Mana kept on whispering to Athrun then would take a glance at her. It was like the two of them were sharing a secret.

"C-cagalli!" Athrun stammered like he was a criminal that was caught red-handed.

"Hmm?" She kept looking at him and waited for him to respond, still unaware of what was going on.

When he wasn't answering, it was Mana who spoke for him. "We were just talking about you dear." She giggled as Athrun became more and more horrified.

"Me?" Cagalli appeared to be really surprised and clueless at the same time. She pointed her index finger to herself and looked back at the two of them. "What about me?"

"It's nothing! It's nothing!" Athrun laughed anxiously, shaking his head fiercely and flailing his arms around to say that nothing is the matter so that Cagalli wouldn't pry deeper. But because of his tense gestures, it made her even more intrigued than she had been a minute ago.

"With the way you're acting, I don't think it's just 'nothing'." Cagalli crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. He really wasn't a good liar.

"I think Flay is calling you." He gulped again while blurting out that obvious lie.

"No she's not." She didn't even turn back to look at them because she knew that it was just an alibi to distract her from asking what they were talking about. With him acting that way, all the more she wanted to know what it was.

"Aww, he's getting embarrassed." Mana covered her mouth with her hands to prevent herself from laughing so hard. "You see Cagalli, I was just telling him that…"

"Mana…" Athrun cut her off, giving her pleading signals and expression so she wouldn't continue what she was saying. He knew it was just so impolite of him to do that but something inside of him wanted to do that.

"I was telling him that you two make a very wonderful couple." She continued anyway, her face beaming with victory.

He could tell that Cagalli was very surprised as well. She didn't respond after what Mana said and instead gawked at her like crazy. A while ago, her face was like of a child, innocent. But right now, her face was red as a tomato. He didn't even know that people were really capable of getting that red!

"Ma-mana! What are you saying?" It was her turn to stutter in embarrassment and Athrun couldn't think of anything at that moment except that she looked exceptionally adorable, with her face flushed and her acting in a defensive manner.

Mana chuckled again, as if it was to tease the two who were melting under the sun's rays because of too much flustering.

"Don't you think so, Honey?" When her husband came near them, Mana grabbed him so that he could listen to their conservation. He was startled at first because of the sudden grip on his arms. "Don't you think that Cagalli and Athrun just look good together?"

Her husband cleared his throat before answering to regain his composure after his wife surprised him. "Yes Honey, I think they do!" The both of them didn't know whether he was being honest or just complied with his wife's views, but still, that made Cagalli blush even more than before and Athrun could sense that she would explode the more that Mana teased her.

"Everyone, isn't it right?" She then asked the group of people near them, who nodded as well. Cagalli was too mortified already. "Cagalli and Athrun should just get married right?"

Most of the people were laughing and agreeing with her.

It was a good thing that Mana needed a rope so she shifted her attention to asking the people around them for some extra rope. Cagalli motioned Athrun to escape from there and to plant the mangroves on a farther area where Mana wouldn't see them.

-o0o-

"Cagalli…" Athrun called out to the blonde that was walking in front of her. They were already way too far from the others and still she wasn't showing any signs that she wanted to stop. The water was getting higher and higher. From their feet to their ankles, and now it was almost up to their knees.

He couldn't blame her either if she wanted to escape Mana and her teasing. He was feeling that it was really getting awkward himself. But still, going this far away from the group might be too dangerous.

"Cagalli!" This time, he managed to get a hold of her arm to stop her from walking further away.

"What?" She looked back at him, as if this was completely normal for her.

"Aren't we going a bit too far?" He asked her.

"Not really!" She shook her head no. "This part is still okay for us to be in. I just want to be away from Mana before she calls everyone else! She really likes making pairings of people here in the island!" She pouted, as she didn't really like the situation that they had been in.

He couldn't help but smile yet again when she showed him that expression of hers yet again. "She does? I'm guessing that she likes match-making you with a bunch of guys as well?"

"How did you know that?!" She spat at him defensively. Was he like a psychic or something?

He kept on giving her that amused grin, which made her want to pull her hair out. He was teasing her as well!

"Athruuuun! Tell me!" She was splashing seawater to him with her feet and kept on kicking and kicking when he refused to respond.

Now he was chuckling while covering his face with his hands so as the water won't get into his eyes. It appeared that he didn't even mind that his clothes were getting soaked with what she was doing.

"You're not really going to tell me?" She cocked her eyebrow again and leaned down to grab something from the sea and Athrun feared for the worst when her hand finally resurfaced from the water.

It was the marsh.

She was going to throw marsh at him.

At his face exactly.

She knew that he didn't like the feeling of the marsh at his feet, let alone its sensation on his face.

"Cagalli…" He gulped nervously, one wrong move and his face will be smeared with the icky marsh. Fine it was okay if it was just all over his foot, but if she were to throw it anywhere else… "You wouldn't…"

"I would." She gave him a stern look. "Speak now or else…" She threatened him, glowering at him for added effect. She knew this was definitely going to work. He was giving this weird expression the first time he set foot on the marsh.

"…"

With no response from him, she threw the marsh at him with one swift move. It was a good thing that his reflex was fast enough to avoid it from hitting him.

It was annoying that he managed to dodge her attack, so without further ado, she leaned back to grab some more and threw it at him as fast as she could. But still, he skillfully avoided every shot. Gosh, was he a ninja or what?

He felt like his mind went berserk as he evaded the shots that were aimed at his face, neck, chest, arms, shoulders, stomach and legs. He didn't know how he did it, but the mere thought of having marsh on his body was enough to give him that ninja skills.

But pretty soon, he was starting to get tired. He knew Cagalli was too, but she just wouldn't stop. It looked like she was really having fun with this. Any moment that he loses his focus, he might just get splattered with the marsh.

Okay fine, Cagalli wins this one.

"Okay, okay I'll tell you!" He was begging her to stop the attacks already, while trying his hardest to move around so that he still wouldn't get hit.

After the last throw of marsh, she stopped completely. He panicked when she leaned down again. It turns out that she was just washing her hands because it was completely covered with the marsh.

"I'm listening…" She crossed her arms and waited for him to speak.

"Well Mana has been telling me that you have a lot of suitors. She said that she was rooting for a lot of them but then you never even dated one of them, even if they asked you. So I was thinking that maybe Mana was the one who really tried to make you end up with one of those guys." He told her.

That embarrassed Cagalli more and started to speak in a defensive tone again. "Those weren't really suitors! It's just Mana trying to set me up! Think of it as a matchmaking thing of hers!"

"I think the suitors came in first, then came Mana and her matchmaking skills." He countered her.

"No it did not!" She insisted.

"Yes it did!"

"How can you be so sure then?" She inquired.

"Well because…" His voice trailed off, uncertain whether he should continue what he was saying or not.

"Well?"

"Uhm…"

"Say it!"

"…"

"Want to have another batch of icky marsh thrown at you?"

"O-of course not!"

"Then spit it out!"

"Well if I say it, then you still might throw marsh at me." He defended himself. This was a lose-lose situation.

"No, I won't!" She raised her hands up to reassure him that she wouldn't do anything of the sort.

He walked to the tall mangroves that were near them, his back facing Cagalli. Getting the propagules from the trees that could already be used for the planting, he turned to face her to finally answer her.

"It's because you're beautiful."

Cagalli, who was on the process of walking towards him, was taken aback by his sudden words. She lost her footing when she was stepping and slipped, landing on the water on her back with a loud thud.

"Cagalli!" Athrun dropped the propagules that he was carrying and ran towards where she fell.

It didn't seem like she was panicking at all because the water wasn't splashing violently, but he had to get her out of the water. She must have been hurt somewhere. He managed to grab her shoulders and pulled her upward from the water. Relief overcame him when he heard Cagalli exhale deeply. Both of them were now really soaked, as Cagalli gasped for breath.

Her hair was all was covering half of her face. He met her dazzling hazel eyes when she tilted her head up. She didn't speak at all, and he felt like she was really containing her anger, which made him more anxious and certain that she wanted to strangle him.

They continued to look at each other for a few seconds, his hands still on her shoulders, until a crab suddenly crawled out of her hair. Both of their eyes were off of each other as they trailed the path of the crustacean. From her hair, to his hand, to his arms, then it fell back it the water.

_Plop!_ Went the sound of the crab as it dropped.

Their eyes finally met again, but this time, both looked at each other with bewilderment.

It was then that Athrun started to laugh.

"What's so funny?!" And she was back to glowering at him for making her fall like that. But she had to admit; it was the first time that she heard him laugh. It was so genuine, so natural, hearing him like that. She was glad that he was able to laugh like that with her. She liked hearing it, that hearty laugh. In a way, it relieved the need to strangle him. How could she even do that to him? When he was being so adorable?

Wait did she just say adorable?

As they stood up, he finally was calming down from laughing at a crab. But he still looked very amused. "There's another one underneath your shirt."

"What?" She quickly fumbled for edge of her shirt and pulled it upwards, revealing that there was really a crab, and it fell down, just like the first one did.

One thing she didn't realize was that she raised her shirt a bit too high, accidentally letting Athrun see her stomach and a portion of her left breast. He didn't really mean to look at it, but everything was happening so fast that he did.

She let the shirt drop back down to cover the exposed parts and looked at him again without even noticing what she has done.

Quickly, he looked away and started to walk back to where the other people were, but he slipped.

"Athrun!" Cagalli yelped, not expecting that he would fall as well.

In the distance, hidden behind the big mangrove trees, there Flay was, lurking as she observed the two of them. Her friend was helping Athrun "the handsome" get back up after being submerged in the mud.

She couldn't help but smile to herself.

"Oh my, Cagalli just flashed Athrun."

-o0o-

A/N: Finally done!

Hehe I just had to replay that crab scene in episode 24!


	5. Junction

A/N: Hello guys! Happy reading!

Chapter 5: Junction

A scorching summer day this was.

Athrun wiped the sweat from his brow. He wasn't doing anything that required so much energy in particular, but the temperature today was something, perhaps two to three degrees higher than the usual? The electric fan had been blowing in their direction for a while now, but it still was hot.

"Argh!" He saw Cagalli, groaning and complaining because of today's hot weather. "It's too hot! This fan is not working properly!" It looked like she wanted to toss the fan out of the window. She let her body collapse to the floor and sighed again. The electric fan was actually pointed mostly at her, she even had a cardboard to fan herself whenever but she still was unable to take the heat today.

He laughed lightly, trying to console her even for a bit. "You're right. It's really hot today for some reason."

The two of them were actually cutting materials for the upcoming school year in her living room. Athrun found out that Cagalli was actually a teacher in a school in the community. Since it was the summer season and she didn't have to do much, she wanted to prepare her teaching materials so she wouldn't have to cram so much when the first day of classes finally comes.

But because of the humidity, Cagalli couldn't even be productive even if she wanted to. It was a good thing that she asked for Athrun's help or else she wouldn't get anything done.

"Would you like me to get you a glass of cold water?" He suggested, seeing that she looked as if she was melting away. She was lying down with her back on the floor, staring at the ceiling, and beads of sweat forming on her face all the while.

"Please?" She pleaded, shifting her gaze from the ceiling to him. He noticed that her eyes were dazed. Poor Cagalli, the heat was really getting to her.

He was about to stand up from the floor when he felt her hands grasp on his right foot. "Wait, Athrun!"

He was surprised by the sudden burst of energy that came from her, and he thought that she was already drained of it. "What is it?" He asked her in a very gentle tone.

"Let's make a shake! Some of my students gave me mangoes a while ago!" Her voice was very enthusiastic but she still was out of energy. She used his foot as a pillar so that she could pull herself up. He assisted her by lending his hand. It was a good thing that he was a lot stronger than her or else he could have been pulled down since she was really feeling so lazy.

"Mango shake it is." He smiled as they both went to the kitchen.

-o0o-

"Aaaah! This feels nice!" Cagalli was now happily slurping the shake that they did a while ago. Even though they messed up the chicken a while ago, since Athrun forgot to close the blender when he pressed the 'mix' button, there were still enough mangoes for two shakes. She was glad that they did because she now had energy to do what she was supposed to do.

He agreed, drinking his as well. "Sorry for mess a while ago. It really slipped off my mind to cover the blender." He scratched his head awkwardly as he , remembered what happened a few minutes ago.

"It's okay Athrun." She laughed it off. "I don't really mind… Besides, since the liquid in the blender splattered everywhere, including myself, so I feel a lot cooler now. And this strengthens my theory that you're a rich guy since you can't do chores or kitchen tasks that well."

With what she said, he couldn't help but feel bad about adding more burdens to Cagalli. He didn't even have the money to pay her for everything that she did, so he tried his best to do her chores and help her in everything that she needed help with. But when he does though, he somehow manages to mess things up.

"Don't look so serious." Cagalli poked him. He was giving off that worried and uptight face again.

He managed to give her a half-hearted smile. "Okay, I won't."

"Is the mango shake, good?" She changed the topic so he could stop his worrying.

"It is." He nodded. Truly, having a cold drink on a hot summer day was really refreshing and pleasant. The mangoes were especially sweet, and it was actually becoming his favorite fruit, or food for that matter, to eat since he had been here. "Your students are a lifesaver, or else you would have melted a while ago."

"Did I really look like that?" She eyed him eagerly.

"A bit." He laughed nervously, as he didn't want to offend Cagalli in any way.

"I guess I did." She chuckled as well; she thought that she looked like a sloth because she didn't want to move so much. "But you know, I worry about those kids sometimes."

"The kids? Why is that?" He asked her, getting curious at that.

She put down her glass and got the scissors. "They actually get these mangoes by climbing the trees here!"

He then realized that there really were mangoes in almost every tree here. But initially, he thought that the people didn't really need to climb the trees to get them and just let them fall to the ground. He wanted to slap himself for that stupid thought. "Climb the trees? Isn't that dangerous, especially for them?"

That sparked her, and she started to get really enthusiastic as she spoke. "I know! I get really worried about them sometimes! Back when we have classes, they climb the trees in the playground during recess period. I always tell them to come down because they could fall, but sometimes they're just too stubborn."

"It's a good thing that they don't fall." Athrun reassured her, but the look on her face made him want to take back what he said. "Or do they?"

Her facial expression became more serious. "Well, they haven't yet." She was able to answer her, but looked away, he didn't know why she was like that suddenly. Did he say something that bothered her?

"What's wrong?" He put down the materials that he was cutting.

"Well fine, I'll tell you." She opened her mouth to say something, but hesitated. He patiently waited for her to continue with what she was about to tell him.

"I was the one who fell down the tree." She said, with a hint of embarrassment in her tone. Her face was flustered and she also couldn't look at him in the eye.

"You did?" He didn't even want to laugh at her because of the clumsy mistake. Just the thought of Cagalli falling off the high trees here was enough to forget that it happened long ago. "What happened? Were you badly hurt?" His voice and eyes emanated worry that it she didn't expect it.

She was surprised at the sudden surge of concern that he had. She thought he would laugh so hard when she told him that since falling of a tree was really stupid. "It wasn't that bad since I fell on a stack of hay. Don't worry about it." Her eyes were never wavered from dazzling emerald ones.

"That's a relief." With that, his body and face started to relax. She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt her stomach fluttering. It was heartwarming that he reacted that way.

"But look at this." She lifted her arms for him to see the scars that were behind her limbs. "Before I fell down though, I grabbed on to the branches. But since I slipped, it grazed my limbs."

He examined what she was showing to him for a few seconds before looking at her again. "There are still slight marks. But what happened anyway? Why did you fall?"

She felt like shrinking in mortification as she recalled what happened on that fateful day. "Well I was playing with the kids one morning in the fields. I think we all liked the feeling of lying down in the hay. Then one of the kids climbed up the mango tree and landed on the hay."

He nodded, grabbing the scissors to cut again, but occasionally looking at her to reassure her that he was still listening.

"All of the kids then thought that it was a good idea. So one by one, they were climbing and jumping off the branch. Of course I tried to stop them first because I thought that it was too dangerous, but they told me that they do it all the time. Some of the kids then told me to also go and try it."

She was sorting all the things that they cut, placing it in different envelopes while she talked. "By just looking at them, I wanted to try it too since it looked like a lot of fun! Well, hearing their genuine laughter made me certain that it was! But I wanted to act all 'mature' at first. Pretty soon, more and more kids were talking me into trying it and I gave up!"

Athrun was laughing at that. He could imagine her trying to convince herself otherwise but giving in at the end. Most days, he observed that she had battles with herself. Sometimes it would be whether she should eat this or not, do her work or not, wake up early or not. When she does that, he always found it funny, and at the same time, very cute.

"So then I started to climb the tree, taking the first two steps up…" She stood up and started to move her hands and feet around to demonstrate how she climbed the tree to Athrun. He didn't know why her demonstration was necessary, but he also found it adorable that she sometimes told him stories with gestures and actions.

"I couldn't move at first, since I was too scared. The kids were cheering me on and I decided that I should be brave enough to do it. But when I was about to reach the branch where they all jumped off, I slipped." She had a childish frown on her face, and he knew that she really was disappointed that she wasn't successful. "But I landed in the hay, so when the kids were convincing me to do it again, I didn't have the guts anymore. Having embarrassed myself once was enough."

"But I still don't understand how you fell while all the other kids didn't." He looked at her with utmost curiosity. Well, if the kids could do it, then she could as well.

"I was wearing slippers…" She sighed, remembering the stupidity of her action years ago. "You'll really slip if you don't use your bare foot."

"But you know, it sure sounds fun!" He exclaimed so she wouldn't feel too humiliated. "I also would like to climb one if possible." It sure would feel nice to jump in the hay! Since he doesn't have any memory of his past, he doesn't really know whether he liked that sort of things.

A crazy idea popped in her mind.

"Let's pause our work for now." She said, stashing the materials in the corner of her living room.

He had a perplexed look on his face. "What? Why?"

She already stood up and put away the glasses in the sink.

"Let's go and climb trees!" She beamed. Excitement was pumping in her veins.

"Climb trees?" He was surprised that she even thought of the idea, but pretty soon, the two of them were headed to the fields.

-o0o-

A few minutes later, after walking in the scorching heat, they finally reached the rice fields. Since it was the summer season, there were no farmers in the area as there were no crops planted. Most of the farmers usually go fishing, the kids also play by the beach since the weather was really hot and it was like they were the only two human beings there.

Athrun walked behind Cagalli, his head looking down, trying to avoid the carabao manure on the ground. If the marsh on his foot was bad enough, carabao manure that slightly would damp his feet was even worse. Just the thought of it sent shivers to his spine. Why did those even have to be there?

"Athrun," Cagalli called out to him, noticing that he was getting uncomfortable yet again.

"Yes?" He looked up, only to see her very amused face.

"You don't have to worry about those." She referred to the brown spots on the fields, giggling all the while. He was being such a girl that it was so funny. But she understood where he was coming from; she and her friends were all like that when they first came on this island.

"Ohh… Really?" Embarrassment was all over his face when she started to notice what he was doing.

Smiling knowingly at him, she walked to a carabao poop that was nearby. She took a glance at him, before lifting her right foot and hovered it above the brown mass.

He swore that he felt his jaw drop the moment he saw that. "Cagalli, what are you-" He didn't even finish what he was about to say because she was already lunging her feet at the carabao manure.

"Cagalli!" His voice was almost a scream, but not quite. Really, it was louder than his usual tone.

She looked at him as if there was completely nothing wrong with her stepping on one. "What?"

"Y-you…" His voice trailed off. There were no words that came out of his mouth. He was still in utter shock.

She lifted her foot off the brown droppings and he was surprised that her slippers were still clean. "Athrun, you're too paranoid. I told you, you don't need to worry about these things. This is already dry like a rock. Look, the color is already pale and isn't wet or whatever." She even stepped on it again to convince him that it was harmless.

That seemed to satisfy him as he relaxed as they continued to walk to where the trees were.

After a while, they already reached the tall mango trees. Thrilled, was one word to describe what he was feeling right now. He had to admit that it was childish to feel that way, but hey, he didn't have the means to recollect whether he already did that in the past or not.

"Athrun!" Cagalli was already one step ahead of him and started to climb the tree. Even if he wanted to follow her lead and climb as well, he remembered what she told him a while ago, she might fall again, or worse the branch might break off when two of them were on the tree.

"You go ahead first, I'll go next." He smiled at her while watching her as she carefully stepped on the branch with her bare foot.

After a few seconds of hesitation, she finally leapt from the branch and landed on the hay. He heard her giggle as she finally sat up. "I did it! Finally!" She held her thumbs up to him, and he did the same with two of his hands. It was his way of congratulating her for having successfully landed the haystack.

The number of times she climbed the tree and jumped, he could no longer count. She kept on jumping and laughing that it made him want to do the same.

"Your turn!" It was like she sensed that he also wanted to give it a shot.

He removed his slippers and inhaled nervously. It was his turn to go up the tree and he hoped that he would do it right. Stepping on the trunk and pushed himself up higher and higher.

She moved to her right a bit so she could make space when he jumped. "You can do it Athrun! Go go!" She worried for a bit, since he really looked like a rich guy who wasn't used to things like this, but she knew that he could easily do it once he gets the hang of it. He was a fast learner after all, since even though he messes up with the household chores during his first time, he eventually does things even better than she does.

Pretty soon his feet was on the branch, looking down he gulped. The branch wasn't that high, approximately eighteen to twenty feet maybe? His head was spinning and started to panic a bit. What if he jumps and lands on the ground instead of the haystack? What if he jumps and he goes right through the haystack? What if he breaks his back or head or something?

"Jump Athrun!" He heard her voice, encouraging him to stop being a scared kitten stuck on a tree.

He was about to, yes he was, but by that time he was able to decide that he was finally going to do it…

He lost his footing.

"Aaah!" He yelped, knowing that he didn't have any more chance of saving himself from falling. He didn't really know what this would to do him or his body. How he wished he didn't climb the tree in the first place.

"Athrun!" She shrieked when she saw him slip. It felt like it all was happening in slow motion.

Hurriedly, she stood up to see where his body was going to land, but he fell even before she could even help him. When he did land near her foot, the hay was getting difficult to stand on, and she also lost her balance and fell on top of him.

He was surprised that she was suddenly above him. He didn't know exactly how they were in that position, and instead of asking her that, he too speechless that her face was so close to his. He could smell the scent of her blonde hair as it brushed his face. Her hazel eyes that kept him from speaking a word, was filled with worry.

Little did he know, that she was also felt the same way, she could only look at him, his face in near proximity with hers. His breathing and the movement of his chest, she felt it as well. The fact that his lips was so close, that she could almost…

She then heard fast beats and figured that it could only come from her heart. What was with that?

"A-are you okay?" She broke the awkward silence between the two of them.

"Yeah." He answered, while his eyes still locked on hers. "I'm alright…"

They didn't know how long they stayed that way.

-o0o-

"Cagalli!" Fllay called out to her friend who she saw walking with Athrun backed to her house. She was seated on the porch of Cagalli's house, waiting for her get back home.

"Hi Fllay!" Her blonde friend saw her and headed towards her, Athrun also did the same. "What is it?"

"Where have you been?" Fllay asked her, annoyance was clearly evident in her voice. She had been waiting for her to come back home for a while now, and she decided to show herself just now.

She then saw her face redden at that question. "I-I- uh… We…" Her friend was stuttering and unable to answer and she laughed nervously while scratched her head. She then shifted her attention to Athrun, who also looked away, seemingly embarrassed as well.

She raised her eyebrows knowingly; a smug grin crept across her face, completely forgetting the fact that she has been waiting that long for her friend. With the expression on both of their faces, she presumed that they have been doing something suspicious again; like that last time she raised her shirt back in the mangrove area. This amused her, big time. She could just imagine what has been happening between them. So this is what happens when you put a boy with a girl under one roof?

"You two…" She called out to them, which made them both look at her. "Just what have you two been up to?" She teased them more, and it was really funny that their faces were getting redder than before.

"Nothing! We weren't doing anything!" Cagalli spat at her. Flay couldn't help but smirk wickedly. Her friend was like that, getting really defensive when she hit a sensitive topic. But how could she believe that excuse?

She let out an evil laugh. She liked making fun of her friend, especially in moments like this.

"What are you even doing here?" Cagalli asked, her face still felt hot from Fllay's questioning. "Hurry up and go home!"

"I'm so sad!" Fllay sighed and pretended to feel hurt at Cagalli's words. "You don't need me anymore since you already have Athrun to always keep you company!"

"Wh-what's with the drama?" She asked her while huffing loudly. "Anyway, why were you waiting for me?"

"I was so bored! That's why I was going to invite you to go to town and do something! But since it's apparent that you don't want to," She stood up and walked towards Athrun. "I'll just bring Athrun along with me! Since you also said that you two weren't doing anything suspicious." She already had a hold on Athrun and gave Cagalli a she-devil look. "Bye Cagalli!"

"What?!" Cagalli was already panicking and grabbed Fllay before she could even walk away. "You can't drag Athrun like that! He didn't even agree!"

"But who do I celebrate my birthday with? And if we don't leave now, it'll become later and we won't be able to get to town!" She pouted, and with this Cagalli's expression became a perturbed one.

"Oh yeah, your birthday!" She laughed nervously; she totally forgot that it was her friend's birthday tomorrow. Oh my, what a bad friend she was becoming.

"What's this?" Fllay fixated her eyes on her friend while putting her hands on her waist and appeared rather irked. "Have you forgotten your friend's birthday… again?"

Cagalli could only harbor an apologetic look on her face. It was true. Even though Fllay constantly reminded her that we wanted to do something in town on her birthday and even though she already agreed with her, it still slipped her mind. That was why she had the gut feeling that she was forgetting something when they started to cut the learning materials of the students!

"I'm sorry!" Cagalli bowed her head low. Fllay never forgets to greet her!

Fllay sighed. Her blonde friend was always forgetful. Almost every year she forgets and she always had to remind her. "Oh well, let's just go to town tomorrow!" She shrugged it off, there was no use getting mad anyway.

"Really?" Her hazel eyes lit up, clearly surprised that she let go of it so easily.

"Yeah, but it'll be your treat!" She gave her a mischievous smile. "That's your punishment for forgetting."

Cagalli let out a huff. "I'm broke, but fine! Since I owe you for forgetting…"

"You can come too Athrun!" Fllay turned to Athrun who was still beside her. "We'll take advantage of this rare occasion that Cagalli treats us!"

"Really?" He looked at Cagalli for permission. He didn't know what to do. Fllay was telling him to come along, while Cagalli told them that she had no money.

"Ugh whatever! You can come too!" She had no choice anyway.

"Alright, great! See you guys tomorrow!" Fllay waved and walked back to her house. "And oh, don't make me feel like the third wheel okay? So lessen the lovey dovey things tomorrow!"

With that, Athrun and Cagalli were left, blushing like a tomato.

-o0o-

"Bus to Onogoro Island in Orb please?" A young man told the cashier, giving her the money all the while.

The cashier of the bus terminal got the money and typed in her computer. After a few more clicks, she finally handed him the ticket with a smile. "Here you go sir, have a safe trip!"

Clutching the bus ticket in his hand, he whispered to himself.

"Cagalli, I can't wait to see you again."

-o0o-

A/N: Tada done! Their lives are pretty chill. Don't you think? Haha perks of living in the province!


	6. Angry Eyes

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny

Chapter 6: Angry Eyes

"Happy Birthday Flay!" Cagalli and Athrun both cheered when the big chocolate cake was served in front of Flay. They were seated at a famous pastry shop in town after eating their lunch.

"Thank you!" Flay was smiling all the while. One reason was that Cagalli was paying for what they were eating as a consequence of forgetting her birthday. And of course, she was also happy that she got to spend time in town with one of her best friends.

"I hope I'm forgiven…" Cagalli gave her a pleading look.

"Maybe?" Flay raised her brow and teased her friend. "If you buy me a new set of earrings, I might…"

"What?! No way! I don't have money for that!" She then thought that it was a bad idea to ask whether she was forgiven.

"It's just one pair of earrings!" She defended.

"That still costs a fortune!"

"I'm just joking, you know." Flay rolled her eyes. Cagalli always took things seriously. "Fine. I forgive you."

"Hooray for forgiveness!" Cagalli clapped her hands in joy. At last she was off the hook.

"Let's eat this!" Flay got the knife from the table and was starting to slice the cake into three big pieces.

"The cake looks really delicious." Athrun told them when he saw how big and mouthwatering the three slices were. He was somehow full with the lunch they ate a while ago, he didn't know if he still had room in his stomach to eat more. But seeing this cake, perhaps there was.

"This is my favorite cake here!" Flay said to him while she handed him his share. "Cagalli's too!"

Cagalli got her plate and took a bite. As expected, the cake was very moist and there was chocolate-y goodness in every bite. "So yummy!" Really, even if the cake was a bit expensive, it was really worth the price.

Flay turned her attention back to Athrun, who just had his first bite. "How is it Athrun?"

He remained quiet for a moment. All those pleasant sensations that were melting in his mouth! It was dense, at the same time moist and very rich in flavor! Now he understood why Flay was so upset that she wasn't able to go yesterday! To miss an opportunity to eat something like this!

"It's really good! I'm really surprised!" He exclaimed and his eyes were beaming. Cagalli and Flay could only look at each other, obviously shocked from his reaction. Usually Athrun was really quiet and passive, so to hear him speak like this was really rare.

Cagalli couldn't help but feel happy seeing him like this. It looked like he was starting to get more comfortable in their company. "That's good to hear." She gave him a cheerful smile before taking a bite of her slice of cake.

"After this, let's go shopping!" Flay suggested.

"Shopping?!" The words went out of her mouth with a hint of exasperation. Flay plus shopping equaled to ridiculous hours of waiting for her to buy what she wanted, and that usually took a long time. And when she felt like it, she'd force Cagalli to also try some clothes on, even though she didn't want to. "Can't we do that some other time? I mean, let's do other stuff!" She tried to dissuade her. She really didn't want to appear like Flay's personal assistant and source of entertainment.

"Nonsense!" But Flay was resolute, she really wanted to go shopping and she would do it today. "It's my birthday, so you have no choice but to go with it!"

"Fine." She sighed in defeat and turned to Athrun. "Brace yourself, we will become Flay's slaves today."

He blinked innocently, not knowing what was ahead of him.

-o0o-

"Athrun, what do you think of this?" Flay came out of the dressing room, wearing a light pink dress with long sleeves that flowed until her knees. She wanted his opinion on matters like this, seeing that Cagalli's fashion sense was distorted and her comments were very unreliable. So there he was, seated on the couch just outside the changing room of the store that they went in.

"That looks nice on you." His response to her question was very fast, that it surprised Flay a lot. She was also flattered because it was a compliment from a very good-looking guy. That doesn't happen very often.

She squealed in delight. "Wait, I'll try some more clothes on." She went back inside the big and spacious dressing room to find Cagalli, giving off an annoyed expression.

"Why am I even inside?" She demanded for an answer. It was fine if she just let him sit with Athrun outside to approve or disapprove what we tried on but no, Flay also forced her to put something on.

"I told you, try on that green dress." Her eyes were directed at the pastel green dress on Cagalli's hands. "It's cute! I bet it'll look good on you!"

"Why would I do that? I'm not going to buy it anyway!" She retorted. She didn't really like to wear these kinds of things, yet Flay had to be such a good friend to pick out dresses for her as well and forced her to go inside the changing room as well.

"It's not like you're going to buy it!" Flay told her. "You're just going to try it on!" She was already taking off the light pink dress and putting on another.

"Really, you like torturing me." Cagalli gave her a suspicious look.

Flay shook her head. "Of course not! I'm just trying to make you change your choice of clothing. I mean, who goes out to town just wearing that plain and boring gray shirt matched with your brother's old jeans?" She frowned, looking that her friend never showed interest in fashion.

"But it's comfortable!" She tried to reason out with her fashion-forward friend even though she knew that she wouldn't get it. "And besides, so what if these are Kira's clothes! At least I don't have to spend so much money on trying on those unnecessary things!"

"Okay fine so it's comfortable! But there are clothes that are comfortable and at the same time suits your body type and are trendy you know!" She was zipping up the floral tube dress and went out of the dressing room. "Even Athrun is more fashionable than you right now. Excuse me for a sec" He was wearing her brother's clothes, and since they had the same body type, it fit him perfectly.

"But that's also Kira's clothes!"

"Athrun!" She called out to him again, purring at that! Cagalli wanted to whack her on the head, but she was too shy to come out. "What about this dress?"

After a few seconds she heard him speak. "I think that looks good too!"

Cagalli, who was just inside the fitting room, couldn't help but feel a tad jealous with what was happening. So Athrun was giving Flay a lot of compliments now huh? But that was Flay! Flay is very pretty and always conscious about her appearance, that's why it's no wonder that he would praise her! Besides, a lot of guys back in the island have a crush on her and tell her that they found her really pretty! It was no wonder that Athrun would also think the same…

She then looked at the dress in her hands. Even though Flay said that it was cute, and it might look good on her, there was no way that Athrun would also tell her that it looked 'nice'! Who was she kidding? There was no way that this would even evoke a positive remark from him! She wasn't compatible with these kinds of girly things anyway!

A few years back, when she wore a gown to her high school prom, she remembered her brother blurting out loud: "You're a girl…" Did she really look that bad when she tried to doll up? That night, she also felt weird looks because she looked so different! Her guy friends were also snickering while giving her a sarcastic "Woah, you look nice today" remark.

What difference does it make now anyway? Athrun probably wouldn't give her the same praise that he was giving to Flay! Why would he even? She wasn't as pretty as Flay was!

"_It's because you're beautiful." _She suddenly remembered what Athrun told her when they were in the marsh. But maybe she was just being assuming? Maybe she heard him wrong! She couldn't be…

Why was this suddenly getting on her nerves?

"Aww Athrun! I'm glad that these suits your tastes!" Flay's giggles cut her train of thoughts. Pretty soon she was back and unzipping the dress and went on with the next one. "I'm so happy that we brought Athrun along!"

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" Cagalli gave her a skeptical look.

"Of course I am!" She smiled at her. "Athrun complimenting me has to be the best thing ever!"

"Hmph!" She crossed her arms, refusing to even accept that for some reason she was feeling a bit envious.

"That's why I told you to try it on!" Flay urged her.

"No way." She shook her head determinedly.

"Fine, suit yourself." She put on a blue polka dotted dress on and went out again. "I like the prints of this one. What do you think, Athrun?"

"That looks good on you as well." Of course, he gave her another compliment! Cagalli was getting frustrated at what was happening and she didn't even understand why she was feeling that way. Not that she was mad with Athrun or with Flay for that matter, but what was it?

Flay went back inside to find her friend trying to control herself with the irritation that she was feeling. A smirk crept up to her features as got the attention of Cagalli.

"Am I sensing the green-eyed monster somewhere in here?" Flay appeared to be talking to herself, but it was obvious that she was referring to her friend that refused to wear the green dress.

"What are you talking about?" Cagalli tried to act innocent, even though she knew that she was definitely talking about her. "What green-eyed monster? Of course not!"

"You're getting jealous because Athrun keeps saying nice things to me?" She raised her eyebrows. "While he hasn't said anything to you because you keep on refusing to wear the dress."

"So what? I don't care." Cagalli crossed her arms, pretending to feel otherwise, it was too bad, because Flay knew her too well.

Flay gave her a smug look. Her friend wasn't so hard to read, especially in moments like these. "Stop being to hard to get and just try on the cute dresses I've picked out for you!"

"No way!" Now that she thought of it, maybe buying Flay a pair of earrings was better than being in this situation.

"You don't have to try all of the dresses!" She tried to reason out. Maybe having her try everything was too much. "Just that green one! I swear, it will look amazing on you!"

"But I don't want to!"

Flay sighed in frustration, Cagalli was being so childish! Every single time! She was always this stubborn when they went shopping, and never fitted clothes like these!

The dress though! She was a hundred percent sure that it would look great on Cagalli! She needed a dress, right? What if there was a special occasion? Besides, this was the time for her friend to start looking like lady.

Cagalli will definitely put that dress on.

There was no sign from Cagalli that she was giving in. But what the heck, she was stubborn as well. She will make Cagalli try on the dress, even though she'd exercise force to do it, and even if it might lead her to future injuries and bruises…

"Well, I can't believe I'm about to do this then…" Flay slowly walked towards Cagalli, who still was still being so difficult.

That seemed to have alerted Cagalli when she felt Flay nearing her. "Hey wait a minute, what are you doing?" Her eyes widened, Flay looked damn serious than ever before that it scared her. "Flay!"

Suddenly Flay's hands were on the bottom of her shirt and she was pulling it up. "Just wear it! Please Cagalli?" Why did she want her to wear it so much?

"No! Why are you being so persistent! Let go of me!" For some reason, Flay was stronger than her this time. Usually she was the stronger of the two, but now she thought otherwise. Her hands were on Flay's, preventing her to go up any further.

"You left me no choice!" Cagalli's belly was already exposed no matter how much she tried to resist it.

"If you don't stop this, I'll…" She tried to threatened her, but to no avail.

"You'll what?"

"Flay!"

-o0o-

Athrun was hearing the voices of Cagalli and Flay inside the dressing room, and he didn't know what to do. It seemed like they were quarrelling with each other yet again, but that was how they usually were. Sometimes he thought that they were having a serious fight because they kept on bickering with each other, but then they'll laugh and reassure him that they weren't.

But it was different today though; Cagalli's voice was getting louder and it was almost sounded like she was really infuriated with Flay. Flay on the other hand was raising her voice as well. He didn't know what they were arguing about right now, but he felt like it was getting serious.

Suddenly there were sounds coming from the dressing room. It was like their bodies were bumping on the walls. Was it possible that their petty fights were becoming real? The shop owner's attention was not spared from this, and she started to walk towards where the changing room was. She looked at him for an answer, but all he could return to her was the same bewildered look that she had.

And then the grey shirt that Cagalli was wearing a while ago came flying out the dressing room. Athrun managed to catch the shirt and his mind was racing. The shirt… Just what were the two of them doing now? He could not even imagine what was happening inside.

He exchanged glances with the shop owner. She motioned him to make the first move and to interfere with whatever catfight was happening inside.

He was about to knock on the door to interfere with what he feared was happening, but then the door to the dressing room opened. First he saw Flay, still in the polka dot dress she was wearing, but her hair was in disarray. But she held a victorious smile and Athrun was starting to wonder whether there was really a fight in the first place.

"Athrun, Miss Judith, sorry for the fuss!" She apologetically told him and the owner of the shop.

"What happened?" Athrun asked her, getting very curious because all of his hunches seemed to be wrong.

"Look!" She stepped out of the dressing room and peered inside. "Cagalli, come out!"

Athrun was getting more and more nervous. Did something bad happen to Cagalli?

When she wasn't coming out, Flay went back inside and pulled her out. "Cagalli, show it to Athrun!"

"Show what?" He felt impatience rising in him, but he didn't let it show on his features and waited for Cagalli to come out.

"Don't be shy!" Flay was dragging her out of the dressing room, when his eyes landed on Cagalli, he could not help but gape at what he was seeing.

Here Cagalli was, standing in front of him, wearing the lacy and green pastel dress that Flay picked out for her awhile ago. In an instant, he felt his face getting warm and his mind blanking out. In front of him was a kind of Cagalli that was different from the usual, not that he disliked what she normally wore. But she really looked charming in the dress!

He then wondered why she didn't like wearing dresses and other girly outfits for that matter. With the way that she wore it, it appeared like she was accustomed to wearing dresses. It suited her a lot.

He found himself unable to tear his eyes away from her. He usually took casual glances at her whenever they were together, but now, it was hard not to stare.

She couldn't look at him straight in the eye and kept her head down. But even so, she felt his stare directed at her, it burned her. Was he that shocked to see her in these kinds of things? Well she had to admit, this was a rare sight.

Flay was the one that broke the unnerving silence between the both of them. "Well Athrun, what do you think? Doesn't she look cute in this dress?"

He wanted to respond to that, although he could not bring himself to give a proper response because he was too amazed. When Flay was showing him the outfits that he chose, he admitted that it looked good on her, but wasn't that enthusiastic when it came to giving her his opinion. When he saw Cagalli though, he was rendered speechless.

It was just like those romantic movies.

"What?" Cagalli was now getting more and more uneasy with Athrun's silence. She was fidgeting in the spot where she stood and immediately wanted to go back inside and rip this dress off her. Why wasn't he telling her things like what he had been telling Flay a while ago? She then gave up the thought that he would also react the same way. "Can I please change back to my normal clothes?"

"Wait!" Flay held her by the arm and looked back at Athrun, waiting for him to respond. "Well, Athrun?"

When Athrun still wasn't talking, Cagalli was getting disappointed all the more. "Well he thinks this is silly okay? That's why he's not even talking. I'm not surprised if he wants to laugh or anything." She managed to get her shirt from his grasp and proceeded back to the dressing room, until she heard Athrun speak.

"No!" He tried to tell her otherwise when he felt that his unresponsiveness was appearing offensive. "It's not silly! And I definitely don't want to laugh and make fun of you!"

"Hmph! Whatever!" Cagalli didn't want to waste any minute in the dress and just wanted to put on her comfortable clothes to get this over with.

Flay was sensing where Athrun was heading at, but she wanted to push it further. "But wait, so how does she look?"

There was a brief silence, and he decided to finally tell her what was on his mind. "You look…"

Even though she was pretending to be mad already, Cagalli couldn't help but look back at him, hoping for something from him, she didn't care if it wasn't on the same level as compared to his compliments with Flay. She just wanted him to say something before she explodes out of frustration.

He finally took a deep breath before letting out what he intended to say from the start.

"As always, you look stunning."

At last he finally said it. His face was all red, as he looked away, unable to face Cagalli because he thought it was really embarrassing.

For Cagalli, she couldn't help but feel all fluttery inside. For Athrun to call her 'stunning' was just something unbelievable. She initially thought that he was making fun of her, like her guy friends back in school. But with the look on his face, plus the sincerity of his voice, she wanted to believe that he really meant it, that he said that because that was what he really thought.

The shop owner could not help but smile to herself. The youth these days! They were just so refreshing.

But Flay…

"What's this?! STUNNING YOU SAY?! But with me, it's just "nice" or good?! I can't believe this! Why does Cagalli get the more flattering compliment even when it's obvious that I'm prettier than her?! This is so unfair! That's favoritism Athrun!" Flay's voice could be heard even from outside the retail store.

-o0o-

"Do you want me to carry that?" Athrun offered when he saw Cagalli struggling to get the keys from her bag.

She handed him the paper bag she was carrying and muttered a 'thank you'. The paper bag contained the pastel green dress that she tried on hours ago. She didn't really want to buy it and of course her mind was resolute on not spending for that, so Flay bought it for her. She just couldn't understand why Flay was just so insistent that the dress was perfect for her, even buying it herself!

A few seconds later, the door clicked and both of them entered the house. "Hey, I'll take a shower first okay?" She felt so exhausted with what happened a while ago, and she felt like she sweated a lot just because Flay harassed her. She needed to relax. A hot bath was the perfect remedy.

"Okay sure." He gave her a light smile as she proceeded to the bathroom. He went straight to the living room and put down the paper bag. There were teaching materials that still had to be done so he figured that he'd started doing it now while Cagalli was bathing.

It was almost half an hour and he had already done so many cutouts and he was glad to be of help to Cagalli. He got another set of those that needing cutting, and as he was about to work on it, a knock on the door could be heard.

He paused from what he was doing. He wanted to make sure that the sound was coming from Cagalli's door and not from the neighbors.

The knocking came again, and it came from Cagalli's door.

He put down the materials on the floor and stood up to get the door. He figured that it might be Flay since she randomly drops by Cagalli's house whenever she felt like it.

He opened the door and had a smile on his face and was ready to greet her, but the door revealed a man with raven hair and red orbs, and he looked like his age. He then wondered who it could be, and the man also seemed to have a confused expression on his face.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Athrun was the first one to break the silence.

The man in front of him appeared in a loss of words. His hand made its way to his head and he was scratching it as while he looked around the house. "I think I'm at the wrong house…" He said in an almost inaudible tone, but Athrun heard him perfectly well.

Athrun waited and continued to look at him, just in case he decides to finally talk to him.

"Uhm… I'm looking for Cagalli Hibiki's house… But uhm… since it's dark… I may have gone to the wrong house and uhm…" He nervously stuttered. It also appeared that he wasn't talking to him, but to himself.

He gave him a friendly smile and tried to catch his attention. "This is Cagalli Hibiki's house."

He noticed that the man's eyes widened as he stopped in his mumbling. He then looked at him straight in the eye. "Wh-what? You mean to say Cagalli's here. That I'm not in the wrong house?"

"Yes." He nodded and observed the guy, he saw that his hands balled into a fist and started to tremble.

"Really?"

He nodded again.

"If this is Cagalli's house, then who the hell are you?!" The tone of his voice suddenly changed from the shy one it had a while ago. He could feel anger rising within the man in front of him and he didn't know why.

He was shocked with that sudden outburst. A minute ago he seemed so nice.

The man continued to speak in a loud voice. "Where's Cagalli?!"

"She's inside." He told her, trying not to agitate him more.

"What the hell?! Who are you? Why are you with her?"

But he didn't feel too threatened with the change in behavior even at the slightest bit. Although he wondered what he was so angry about. Was he the "Kira" that Cagalli was talking about? Her twin brother? Strangely enough, he didn't look like Cagalli even by one bit. He remembered her showing him a picture of her brother a few days ago and he was a brunette. Could it be possible that he dyed his hair? But he still didn't look like her relative.

In any case, he should reply to him. "I'm-"

He didn't even let him respond even though he wanted to because the black-haired guy already got a hold of the collar of his shirt. He was able to see his red eyes, blazing with rage. The pools of his eyes seemed to be on fire. Why was he acting like this? Who was he anyway? He didn't really know.

"Wait a minute, what are you doing?" Athrun asked him, clearly confused by what was happening. His hands were on the other man's arms, trying to pry it off him, but he wouldn't budge.

"You bastard!" His grip on his shirt tightened. "What the hell did you do with Cagalli? Where is she?! Where?!"

"What?"

"Don't try to lie!"

For the first time since he regained consciousness from an unknown accident, he was feeling a negative emotion rise within him. This guy, why was he being like this? And more importantly, why did he feel like he was about to get angry? He tried to reason out with him, but he didn't even give him a chance and now he was accusing him. Inhaling deeply, he tried to compose himself again.

"Why aren't you answering me?! Answer me!" How would he answer him if he wasn't even letting him talk in the first place?

Then again, maybe he wouldn't try so hard to remain calm.

He was definitely going head to head with his angry eyes.

-o0o-

A/N: Tadaaa! End! Till the next chapter!

You can also read: **Phase 14: Flight to Tomorrow –** My newest oneshot :)


	7. Fangs of the Enemy

Chapter 7: Fangs of the Enemy

Athrun was about to open his mouth and pry off the hold that the raven-haired man had on him. He was really losing his patience with him. This guy also looked like he wanted to beat the crap out of him, right here, right now.

"Shinn?"

Cagalli's voice cut the tension between the two of them. She was walking down the stairs of her house, wearing a plain white shirt and shorts and a towel was draped around her neck.

The expression on the guy named 'Shinn' changed. "C-c-cagalli." His voice was shaky, as compared to the overpowering and bossy tone he had a while ago. It appeared like he was a kid that was caught in the act.

She was already standing beside Athrun, still looking at their visitor. Her gaze then fixated to what Shinn had been doing, his hands on Athrun's shirt. She then raised her brows and asked him. "What are you doing to Athrun?"

By reflex, the raven-haired man released his grip on Athrun and his face became flustered. "I thought… He…" He turned to Cagalli, then to Athrun and to her again. "He… You… Errr… Uhm… Sorry…"

She then giggled, much to the guy's worsening embarrassment.

Athrun's mood lightened up after that. If Cagalli hadn't arrived in time, he might have done something that wasn't too nice. So it was a friend of Cagalli, which was why he didn't want to do something that was unnecessary and unpleasant all the more. He was relieved that he managed to control his temper.

"He's Athrun." Cagalli said, introducing him to the guy on the door. She turned to Athrun. "This guy is Shinn. He's a friend from here. I'm guessing you just came back from your trip?" She asked him, to which he nodded.

"Hi Shinn, nice to meet you. Sorry if I caused some misunderstanding." He then offered his hand to shake, but surprisingly Shinn ignored his friendly gesture. He gave him a glance, but still didn't give off an easy-going expression when it came to him.

"Hi." Shinn said, but he wasn't even making eye contact. Rather, he didn't even attempt to.

Athrun then stupefied as he retrieved his hand that was disregarded. It seemed like the guy didn't like him even the tiniest bit and did not even attempt to be in good terms with him. Or was he just embarrassed because of what happened a while ago?

"Would you like to come in?" Cagalli was sensing the uncomfortable atmosphere so she decided to make things casual.

Shinn nodded enthusiastically, jolly that Cagalli offered for him to come in. He left his shoes outside her doorstep and walked in, bumping Athrun's shoulder in the process.

Athrun knew that he did that on purpose, since there was a lot of space to walk around to begin with. But he decided to shrug it off. So he didn't like him at all.

Cagalli wasn't able to notice that as she was closing the door when that happened. She gave him again a smile when she turned around to make sure that everything was okay. To that, he also responded with a nod and a smile.

-o0o-

As they entered the living room, Shinn hurriedly took the seat beside her. Seeing that Cagalli sat on the edge of the couch. Athrun sat in one of Cagalli's small couch across them. He found it awkward if they all sat down the long couch anyways.

"So, when did you come back here?" She asked Shinn.

"I just came back today, two hours ago?" He replied to her.

"Just today?" She was surprised that he had come back today. She thought that he wouldn't be back until Christmas season. "You didn't even tell us! By the way, how's your uncle doing?" The reason why he left in the first place was to take care of his sick uncle in another province.

His expression was really soft and gentle when it came to Cagalli, Athrun observed. Very much different to how he treated him a while ago. "He's fine now. He managed to have a successful operation and his daughter was back from studying overseas so it's okay for me to come back here now."

"Athrun, Shinn also lives here! Although left three months ago to talk care of his sick uncle in another province while his daughter was finishing his studies abroad." She told him to keep in the loop. She didn't want him to feel out of place with what she and Shinn were talking about.

"I see." He nodded. So he was from here. But he didn't appear to be, since most of the people here were kind and welcoming to him, while this guy just acted plain rude towards him. Or maybe that was because Shinn thought that he was a stranger trying to do something bad to Cagalli? But they cleared that out though.

"So anyway," Shinn said, clearly not interested in what he had to say. "I really was excited to come back here. I didn't really have the means of communicating with you guys frequently. There was no cellular signal there, plus my uncle didn't really have a telephone or a computer."

"That's okay." She shook her head. "Besides, you did it the conventional way, by writing a letter!"

A blush then crept to his face. "Y-you received that?"

She nodded enthusiastically, which sent the tint of his face, similar to a tomato. Just by observing him and the way he was so hostile with him a while ago, Athrun could only conclude that this guy liked Cagalli. He was too obvious.

"I was so touched!" She continued. "Didn't realize that you could write a very long one. Whom else did you write to? Ahmed and the others told me that they didn't receive one!"

So he only wrote to her? This strengthened Athrun's theory.

But did Cagalli like him as well?

"Ah, I forgot to write to them. I knew they would just make fun of me if I have given them one." He was scratching his head again. Maybe this was a gesture that he did when he was anxious. Although Athrun somehow had a hunch that he had no intention to write the others. "I-I wrote to my parents!" He told her in an almost defensive manner.

"I see! But the letter never got to your parents though!" She told him, with that his jaw dropped.

"Eh?" His eyes widened at what she said. The expression from his face appeared to be of a man that was caught. He then figured that maybe, Cagalli was the only one he wrote to.

"Well, I told your parents that I got a letter from you! Then I met them last week when we planted mangroves and they asked me if you sent another letter to me because they never received one from you." She continued to tell him, and her friend's face was slowly losing color, unable to respond to anything she said.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, I guess they still haven't received it. Maybe your letter to them is still on its way." Cagalli kept on talking, not noticing the change in expression on Shinn's face.

Relief overcame Athrun. Cagalli seemed to be innocent and didn't even have a clue that he had feelings towards her.

But wait a second, he was relieved? Why?

He shifted his attention to Cagalli and Shinn in front of him to distract him.

"You're right." Shinn laughed nervously, hoping that they would change the topic of their conversation.

"Anyway," It was a relief for Shinn that Cagalli was the one that did just that. "So how were things when you were with your uncle?"

He then talked about his stay with his uncle. How he was always bored that he always slept and watched television. He told her that he even read books and all the other things that he did.

He also took this chance to ask her what happened in the island while he was away. She told him a lot of things about their friends and his family, what they did, what the latest news were. Occasionally, she would turn her attention to Athrun and try to include him in the conversation, which annoyed him. Why did she have to have another person here when he visited?

They talked some more for almost an hour.

"Have you eaten yet?" She asked him, obviously hungry herself.

"I haven't!" He shook his head no. He was glad that he had an excuse to spend a longer time with her and to catch up more.

"We'll prepare dinner, so just stay put." She stood up and walked to Athrun. She gently tapped him in the knee and he stood up to follow him.

"W-wait!" He bolted up from his seat, there was no way he would let that Athrun beat him. Was she serious? With that guy? He couldn't believe that she was leaving him here in the living room. "You're preparing dinner? I'll help too!"

"No need!" Cagalli laughed and motioned him to sit down. "You had a long trip, so you must be tired. You can watch television while you wait." Truly, she wanted him to take it easy.

"B-but… I want to help" He didn't want to sit down without a fight.

She was resolute not to let him help them though. He always had been helping her with almost everything. There were times that he helped her in carrying some of the needed materials to school, and that was a very long walk. When her roof was leaking, he fixed it for her. When she stayed at school until evening because she had work to finish, he would wait for her and walk her home, just to make sure that she was safe. When she got a very bad cold, he braved the storm to get to town to buy her medicine. He was really a very kind person.

Now that he was back, even if this was just a small token, she wanted to do this for him. "Shinn, don't be silly! Just relax okay? Let me prepare you a welcome dinner at least. Please Shinn?" She was giving him that 'innocent-and-pleading-puppy-eyed' look, hoping that it would work.

Even though he really didn't want to back down, he felt like Cagalli would feel bad if he forced her to let him help. Plus the look on her face, her beautiful amber pools pleading him to let her do it, it was too damn cute. He nodded, like an obedient son. "Okay then, I guess…"

She was able to feel relieved because of that. It was a good thing that he agreed with her. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

With that, he was unable to protest. He just couldn't, not while she was telling him that he should just take it easy.

Truth be told, he was feeling tired. He just got back a few hours ago on that long train ride. He wasn't even able to sleep while he was on the train, even if the ride was eight hours long. Just thinking about the fact that he would see Cagalli again, made him jumpy and nervous at the same time.

When he got home, the first thing he did, aside from greeting his parents, was to take a shower. He didn't even unpack his belongings, take a nap or stayed to have a chitchat with his parents because he immediately left to go to Cagalli's house right after he put on a fresh set of clothes.

But even though he felt really sleepy, he wanted to see Cagalli. After all, they have not seen each other for three months.

To be here in her house, and have her prepare him dinner sent him jumping in so much happiness deep down. He thought that this could only happen in his imagination. But it was real! It was really happening! He could not even believe it, and he thanked Haumea for this.

Cagalli making him dinner… It was like a wife making his husband something good to eat after a hard day at work.

"_Welcome home, love! Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."_

Husband…

Wife…

He couldn't help but feel so much flustered, just thinking about that.

"Does this taste good?" He was hearing Cagalli's angelic voice.

"Perfect…" He muttered out without thinking.

"Let me taste." That unwelcomed voice broke his fantasies into a million shards.

He snapped out of his daydreaming and realized that the voice that he heard of Cagalli just wasn't in his thoughts and that she wasn't even talking to him.

He turned to look at what was happening in the kitchen from his seat and saw that Cagalli was holding out a spoon of whatever she was cooking to the direction of that blue-haired stranger.

What made his blood boil was that the guy actually was eating it from the spoon that she held in her hands!

"It's delicious." He gave her a gentle and warm smile.

"Thank goodness!" She giggled, when she heard him give her that feedback.

Have they forgotten that he was just in the living room? Who was this cocky guy anyway? And why was he here with Cagalli, helping her make their dinner even? Did he think he could do just as he pleases? He had never heard of someone named Athrun before! Did he just forget that Cagalli told him that? Or did their romance blossom when he went away?

He was getting infuriated at their closeness. The way they laughed in each other's company burned him. It was too much! They way they acted; it was like they were the husband and wife!

Standing up from his seat, he was determined to break this jolly moment of theirs. He didn't know who this Athrun really was, but he refused to be beaten by him. Not when he had been longing for Cagalli to treat him like that since five years ago. Not when he had been trying his best so that she would finally look at him the same way that he did.

He had been in love with her for five years now. Five long years. And yet she hadn't been giving him that kind of affection! This Athrun guy couldn't just enter into their lives and take Cagalli away from him!

They seemed to have no idea that he was walking towards them, as they were still engrossed in cooking. Cagalli even had her hand on his shoulder as she was mixing something in the frying pan while he was so focused on observing her. She was explaining on how to cook it properly and he turned to look at her. She did the same thing as well.

Their faces were just so near each other's…

"Uhm…" Shinn cleared his throat to catch their attention.

Both of them finally noticed him and backed away from each other, much to Shinn's liking. Athrun didn't say anything and just looked at him. Cagalli was the one that broke the ice.

She was actually blushing!

"I'm sorry! This will be done soon!" She apologetically told him, thinking that he was already hungry and that they were taking too long.

He shook his head so that he wouldn't make her feel bad. "No! It's okay! I'm not yet hungry." He denied, even though he really was starving that he could eat a whole chicken. But he didn't want to cause her so much trouble. "Just wanted to sit here if you don't mind?" He pointed to the dining chairs and took a seat.

"Sure!" She nodded and turned back to what she was cooking.

"This way, we can talk even while you cook." Shinn told her, glaring at Athrun all the while. Of course he sat there so that he could distract the two of them so that they wouldn't be so sweet with each other and act as if they were a couple, like what they were doing a while ago.

Them? A couple? That wasn't even possible! Even before he left to take care of his uncle, he knew that Cagalli didn't even have a person that she liked! Heck he always asked Flay if there was, and he was relieved that she told him that there wasn't.

This guy… Who was he? He was getting really annoyed with his existence. He had no clue as to who he was! He never heard of this 'Athrun guy' from Cagalli, or from Flay! He just had to enter their lives and make it harder for him to court Cagalli and to convey his feelings. Cagalli didn't want him to even help her when she cooked, but with this guy, she was even the one who asked him to! What did that even mean?

How he badly want this guy to leave them alone…

So maybe he was good-looking. Well, partly good-looking, to rephrase. But he refused to be beaten by him just because of his looks! He had a lot of good points in him, plus, he had always been here for Cagalli for a long time. He couldn't lose to a guy like that.

Now that he thought about it, he was gone for three months. Three whole months and he managed to contact Cagalli only once. He then cursed that he didn't even have a means of contacting her other than a letter. And that letter that he sent her took him forever to compose since he wasn't even good at those!

But the way she acted around him…

"I'm cooking your favorite by the way! Beef curry!" Her voice cut into his train of thoughts.

Even when he was feeling down because of what was happening, he couldn't help but blush when he heard her say that. She was too sweet! Cooking his favorite food when he got back. It was too touching! And to think that he was eating dinner with her as well, he was too lucky. "Really? Thank you!"

"Cagalli, I think the beef is tender already." Hearing this other guy's voice, he then was reconsidering if he was to be called "lucky". Was he seriously eating dinner with them? And here he was, thinking that he could actually spend some alone time with Cagalli. Really, this Athrun guy was being such a pest. Well, at least he gets to see her, right?

"Alright. Can you turn off the stove, please?" Cagalli said to him while getting a big bowl to put the curry.

He had put out the flame as he was instructed. "I'll just set the table." Athrun walked towards the cupboard to get the plates.

"Okay." She gave him a grin. Shinn just wanted to burn him at that moment.

Athrun was then setting the plates. He put one in front of Shinn, which he placed in front of him carefully. Shinn then observed him, not forgetting to give him a dangerous glare while he was at it.

Even with those scary eyes directed at him, Athrun didn't seem to mind. Rather, he didn't want it to get to him. To him, it was really childish for him to keep doing that. But maybe this was how he normally was to other people, so he didn't really want to impose an initial impression on him. Besides, he seemed like a pretty nice guy, since he was so nice to Cagalli.

He then put the two plates side by side across Shinn and went back to the cupboard and get utensils and glasses.

But when he came back, he was surprised. Shinn seemed to have moved one of the plates beside him. The look on his face also told him that he should just let it be that way. So he really wants to sit next to Cagalli that much.

Sighing in defeat, Athrun just proceeded to place the utensils and glass following the table setting that Shinn just set. Shinn on the other hand, was feeling victorious because of it.

"Here it is!" Cagalli placed the beef curry and the big bowl of rice in the middle of the table. "Sorry for the wait!"

"Woah!" Shinn gaped at the sight of the mouthwatering dish that she cooked. "It looks really good Cagalli!" It smelled nice too.

"Now, let's eat!" She smiled at him. It made his heart melt. She looked really pretty when she beamed like that.

Although, her next move surprised him a lot.

She then took the seat that was across him. He initially thought that she would most likely take the seat beside him, and that Athrun would take the seat in front of her. In that way, that was a win-win situation for him, since he wouldn't have to be looking at that guy. But unfortunately, everything was not going according to his plan.

In the end, it was Athrun that took the seat beside him. Athrun was also the one sitting right across her.

He then remembered that it was really Cagalli's usual seat here in the dining table! Why didn't he think of that earlier? He should have just scooted over to the seat next to her!

"Shinn, are you okay? What's the matter?" Cagalli seemed to notice that his enthusiasm suddenly plummeted down to a very low level.

He forced a smile to ease the concerned look on her face. Even if he just wanted to give off a very disappointed aura. "Nothing! Maybe I'm just tired! Let's eat?"

She nodded, believing his excuse all the while. "Maybe you should go home and rest after eating dinner?"

"I guess…" He responded as he put the beef curry on his plate. Maybe he just needed to sleep this off. At least when he visits tomorrow, this Athrun guy won't be here.

It was a good thing that Cagalli was talkative throughout the meal and kept asking him about how things were with Shinn when he was on his trip so it didn't feel awkward at all. She also told him again about a lot of things that happened in the island while he was gone. Athrun was also fairly quiet, only uttering a word or two once in a while. He was grateful for that, at least he didn't feel the need to compete for Cagalli's attention.

Before he knew it, dinner was soon over. He cursed inwardly that it had to end so soon.

"Get some rest okay?" She said walked him to the door. He stifled a yawn. He was really tired.

"I will." He smiled at her again. "See you tomorrow."

"Yup. See you." She nodded.

But he just couldn't help but look at Athrun, who was still standing behind Cagalli, with no intentions of leaving. "You're still not going home?" It may come off as rude, but this guy had been in her house when he arrived. Even though he expected him to leave in a few minutes that, he still didn't, he even stayed for dinner and it looked like he was planning to stay a bit longer. Long enough so that Cagalli would tell him to just spend the night here because it might be dangerous to head home when it gets late, knowing that she's really kind. Then this guy would…

No way in the hell that would happen if he could do something!

But then he heard what he had dreaded to hear. "Oh you mean Athrun?" Cagalli chuckled and pointed her thumb to the guy behind him. "Don't worry about him! He's staying here with me."

Wait, was what that?

Did he even hear her right?

He's definitely become deaf.

It was impossible! Right?

"What?" He asked her, praying that he just had a problem with his hearing.

"He lives here." She stated as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "For the time being anyway…"

Suddenly he wasn't so sleepy anymore.

"EEEEEHHHHHHH?" His jaw dropped big time. So he really heard her right! He really was staying here, with Cagalli! He. Wasn't. A. Visitor. Was this why they were doing household chores together? Acting like a couple? Do they sleep together at night, on the same bed? Was this why he didn't even try to include himself that much in their conversation a while ago? Because he knew that he would have Cagalli's whole attention when he left?

And the way that Cagalli was looking at him a while ago.

It then felt like everything was falling apart.

Cagalli had a boyfriend now, and they were living together!

"He lives here, for real? How did this all happen? How come I didn't know about this?" There was an influx of questions, wanting to be answered."

"It's a long story!" Cagalli grinned innocently. "I'll tell you when you come back, right now you should rest!"

"B-but…" He didn't want to leave, but she really was set on letting him rest so he had no choice but to just give it up.

"Tomorrow okay?" She consoled him with the thought that they would be able to meet tomorrow.

"Fine. See you then." He said with his resigned voice. His heart felt heavy. It was sinking in, Cagalli just found herself a lover, and it wasn't him. It just wasn't him. No matter how hard he tried to win her affections, he just couldn't. She only saw him as a very good friend.

And before he left, he turned back and shot Athrun an icy glare.

"_I wish you'd just disappear_." It was what he wanted to say to him, but refrained himself from doing so. But he hoped that he was able to convey that message to him.

Instead of feeling threatened, Athrun just continued to look at him that sent Shinn to feel very much annoyed. This bastard was challenging him!

"Good night!" Cagalli was the only one that wasn't able to notice the rising tension coming from the two men.

-o0o-

Athrun sighed as soon as Shinn left. Finally, he would be able to relax. All evening, he felt as if daggers were all over his body from the burning stares that he gave him. That Shinn guy really made it clear that he didn't like him even just one bit.

So he'll be seeing him often now, huh?

"Athrun." Cagalli's cheerful voice cut in his thoughts.

"Y-yes?" He was caught off-guard with her suddenly calling him out.

"Let's wash the dishes?" The radiant smile coming from her made it easy to understand why Shinn liked her so much.

Maybe him as well?

He smiled back at her genuinely.

"Let's go."

-o0o-

A/N: Tada! Done!

Read my other fics as well! :)


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